First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage
by TCGeek
Summary: After the engagement, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and the fairytale wedding, Dr. and Mrs. Derek Stiles start their new lives together... but how will Derek and Angie handle some very unexpected surprises that come their way?
1. Party Time

Yo!

I'm back with my second (and going to be very lonnnng) cute mushy Derek and Angie in the future story... This one will most likely be a bit longer than Keeping the Secret... but we'll see where it goes, eh?

**Let's get rockin' **(I'm SO EXCITED!)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Party Time**

Derek paced back and forth through the small, dimly lit room, his shined black shoes grazing the carpet lightly. He clasped his hands together tightly, and in a rare move performed by him, swiftly rolled his palm over the knuckles of his left hand, producing a crack from each one. Pulling back the fabric of his coat, he looked at the time. It read 3:28, which meant he only had a little over a half hour to get rid of his jitters and get ready for the big moment. In the back corner of the room in which he stood was a wooden chair, its back and seat upholstered with ivory cushions. He walked over to it, and sat, focusing his mind on other things… like, the memories of his bachelor party the night before.

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"Oh, come on! No strippers… as in, zero? As in, no naked women in my presence?"

Derek shook his head. "No, Tyler. No strippers. None. Zero. Go watch naked women on your own time – it's not my thing."

Tyler had been asking Derek about this up until the night before, but eventually gave into his wishes. Tyler, Derek, Greg and Sidney Kasal, Victor, Derek's cousin and med school buddy Jason, and a few other friends and coworkers met at Tyler's place for Derek's big send off to the married world. They watched the big fight, drank, played poker, and traded stories about the women in their lives for the better part of the evening. Derek was never nervous to get married, he just needed a big relaxing night away from Angie and wedding plans to clear his head.

"What do you got Victor?" Tyler asked, the dealer for the round.

"Um, what can I do with Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Six?"

Derek's cousin began to laugh loudly, making Victor shoot an evil glare his way.

Tyler smirked. "Well, Victor… you can fold, because your hand sucks."

He threw down his cards in a huff. "I still don't understand this game, and its boring the hell out of me." The researcher took another drink of his beer, before turning his attention back to the fight.

"Sidney?"

"I call." The plastic clink of the chip echoed through the air as Sidney set his battle with Tyler in stone.

The men laid down their hands, Sidney's full house beating Tyler's two pair. He raked in the pot and began to organize his chips, before turning his attention to Derek.

"So, Derek – ready to run yet?"

The rest of the guys at the table turned away from the fight, now on commercial break, making remarks to one another about the comment.

"Nah…" Derek said, a smile on his face. "I'm actually pretty excited."

"Oh c-come on…" Greg interjected, slightly slurring his speech. "I mean, aren't you s-so tired of wedding plans yet you could just strangle the next person that talks about flower arrangements?" He tipped the top of his beer to point at Derek, a very serenely tipsy look cemented on his face. "I mean, who payss _that_ much money for things that are going to die in s-six dayss anyways, I mean, my God…"

Sidney laughed. He was a little tipsy as well, but watching Greg ramble on and on was something he didn't get to see very often.

"You know, Greg – Maybe you should take it easy on the beer?" he said, reaching for the bottle before Greg swiped it and drank the rest of its contents in four giant chugs. Sidney started to laugh like crazy as Greg looked at him with a very triumphant look on his face.

"Here, S-Sidney… here's the bottle youu wanteddd! I-I win! Haha!" He rose from his seat before sitting back down quickly. "I think I'm just going to sit here for a little while…" he muttered as he laid his head down on the table, the rest of the guys laughing at him.

Sidney turned his attention back to Derek, still chuckling slightly. "So, really – it must feel great to stop dealing with florists, caterers.. the like… I'm just surprised you handled it so well…"

He laughed. "Yeah, wedding plans did get a little bit irritating after awhile – but now that all that stuff is over, I'm getting married… I'm happy. Besides, Angie was excited to plan all that stuff so I just sat back and let her do whatever."

"Nobody wants to talk about this!" interrupted Tyler, watching as everyone turned their attention towards him. "I, for one, am curious to know one thing…"

Derek looked at him with wide eyes, hoping he wouldn't say what he thought he was going to.

"I want to know… how excited you are for your wedding night…"

All the guys turned towards Derek as his face grew red as a tomato – man, Tyler was a jerk.

"Wait, wait, wait…." Jason interrupted, slightly confused. "You mean, your fiancée looks like THAT, and you've never..?"

He held up his hands in defense, giving into conversation. "No, I'll admit it… we haven't slept together…"

Half of the room looked shocked, the other half saw it coming.

"Oh man…"Jason said, shaking his head. "Cousin, I'm ashamed of you…"

"Hey!" Tyler interjected. "It's nothing to be ashamed about at all – she was the one who really wanted to wait, right?"

"No - it was important to both of us, though it got frustrating sometimes... I knew I was going to end up with her anyway, so I figured when we got there, we got there… It left something to look forward to, was how I've always looked at it… and I was right – it was worth it for the night we'll have tomorrow" Derek replied smiling, taking a swig of beer.

"So, you've never seen her naked?" Victor asked. Everyone shot their eyes towards him, shocked that something like that had come out of his mouth. "What?! I can't ask questions now? GEEZ!"

Everyone laughed for a second before turning back to Derek, wondering the answer to that question.

"Well… I wouldn't go THAT far…" he said smiling slyly, taking another swig from the bottle, trying to hide his embarrassment. The guys whooped for a few seconds, before prodding him some more.

"So, you have done some stuff, obviously if you've seen her naked…" Victor continued.

"Obviously yes, we've done… things – hey wait a second, why the hell am I talking to you guys about this?"

"Oh, come on Derek…" Greg said muffled, his face still implanted in the table. "You can tell us, we won't say any--"

The conversation was interrupted by a succession of three loud knocks at the door. Derek shot a look over at Tyler, who gave him a questionable shrug, a smirk plastered on his face. He got up to answer the door, and as soon as he saw who was on the other side, glared at Tyler, ready to kill him.

"Hello Sir, my name is Officer Marks. I need to speak with you about some very important matters concerning your vehicle."

Derek had to admit – Tyler had picked one gorgeous stripper. She had long, dark hair which was tied back in a low ponytail, huge blue eyes, and a rockin' body. He was very uncomfortable with the situation, but didn't want to make her feel bad…

"Okay…" he said, putting his hands up to indicate his surrender. "Come on in, do what you gotta do…"

All the guys in the room turned their attention towards the woman, watching as she closed the door behind her. Greg lifted his head off the poker table, still pretty tipsy, giggling before shouting out "UH-OH, look who'ss att the door!" in a sing-song voice. Sidney patted "Captain Obvious" on the back a few times, before Greg returned his head to the table. All the rest of the guys elbowed Tyler and made inappropriate comments, never taking their eyes off her.

"Like I said, I need to talk to you about your vehicle, sir."

Derek blushed a bit. "Okay, uh, let's see.. Obviously I've been a "bad boy…" what… is there something wrong with my "stick shift"? Are you going to have to "let me off with a warning"? What..?" He took guesses as to how this was going to go, a seriously perturbed look growing on the woman's face.

The guys were dying by this point. Mild mannered Derek Stiles was about to have a half naked woman all up in his business. They all stood, their digital cameras and camera phones ready, except Tyler – who was the only one that was really confused by the situation.

"Sir, this is about the person who drives a Chevy Tahoe – Dark Blue."

He turned towards Tyler – that was his car. "You hired a stripper for yourself at my bachelor party?"

Tyler rose from his seat. "No, I didn't hire any strippers, I swear…"

A bitter silence filled the room as everyone realized it was a real cop.

"Sorry to disappoint, gentleman, but this ticket belongs to you. You can pick up your car at the impound lot at nine in the morning tomorrow. Thank you, and have a nice night."

She handed the ticket to Tyler. It read "expired tabs – parking too close to fire hydrant" and listed the towing company's number at the bottom. He grew fairly pissed as he read it over, but was snapped out of his thought as he heard a thud. Derek had fallen into the front door, laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

"It was a REAL COP?! HahahahHAAH – wait, wait…. that means, your car is gone!!! That SUCKS!!"

He pounded the ground with his fist as he struggled to catch his breath. The rest of the guys in the room wiped tears from their eyes as they continued to laugh, and Greg picked his head up once more to ask Sidney where the stripper had gone.

"I asked her what was wrong with my "stick shift"… oh dear Lord!" Derek said, picking himself off the ground.

The room erupted in laughter once more, Tyler barely following suit. His car was seriously gone, although, he did have to admit it was hilarious watching Derek talk to a cop like she was a stripper. He laughed as he threw the ticket on the front table to his place, before returning back to the poker table with everyone else. Greg had woken up again, and had his arm around Sidney, confessing his undying love for his brother every few minutes, as Sidney just laughed and shook his head – embarrassed that his brother couldn't hold liquor as well as he could. Derek spent his last night as a single man with the most fun friends he could've ever hoped for, but as the time passed on, he secretly got more and more excited for the coming day.

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He snapped back to reality, fingers tracing the soft fabric of the chair he was seated in. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out her wedding band. It was made of little round diamonds, nothing holding them into place besides the soldering on the inside of the band, and little prongs which clasped each little diamond to the one next to it. It was the perfect compliment to her engagement ring, the band to that made of the same little tiny jewels. He rested his elbows on his knees as he looked at it more - he could see her smiling face in his mind, and his nervousness flooded away. He looked at his watch once more – 3:51. It was time for him to take a deep breath, and get ready. Derek stood up, closing his eyes briefly before he placed a hand on the handle to the door and turned it clockwise, pulling it open. He stepped out in his full tux, a black shirt, a white vest, and a white tie into the chapel where his wedding to the woman of his dreams was about to take place.

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An hour prior, Angie was seated in her giant white fluffy robe, drinking Mimosas with her maid of honor, Leslie Sears, in the suite they had rented for the bridal party to get ready in. She was bursting with excitement, but wasn't ready to put on her dress quite yet, as she was trying to relax before the big day.

The day before, Derek had helped her move all of her stuff into his apartment during the day. Upon walking into her empty apartment, he was shocked to see it littered with boxes.

"I hate to break it to you – my apartment's big, but we may have to buy the one next door just to store all this stuff…"

She giggled. "Honey, this is nothing… the boxes in my bedroom are stacked almost to the ceiling… and then there's all my clothes that are hung…" She watched as Derek's mouth dropped in shock, quickly talking to try to calm him down.

"…B-But there's a lot of stuff I don't need quite yet – and I've already sectioned that off over there…" She pointed to a huge stack of boxes in the corner of her living room. Derek breathed a sigh of relief.

"I guess we should get working, huh?" he said, scratching the back of his head.

Leslie and Tyler showed up a short time later, and helped them load all the boxes into a giant rented truck, before Derek and Angie took off to go move her into their new home.

From about 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, they unpacked all her stuff, combining their lives together in one apartment. Between them, they now had three TV's, a whopping five video game systems, two beds, a closet filled to the brink of collapse with clothes, dressers of even more clothes, two computers, and a hell of a lot of music and movies. Exhausted from all the work, they crashed into _their_ bed together, and began to talk about their excitement for their wedding day, before taking a small nap. When they awoke, they parted ways, heading off to their respective parties.

Spearheaded by Leslie, Angie's party was a little racier than Derek's. Although no strippers showed up, there were sexy drinks, lessons on pole dancing, hilarious games of truth, and most importantly… presents: all of them another piece of lingerie. It was at this time, she was glad that both hers and Derek's mothers had turned down the invitation to come to the party, reasoning that it wasn't for women that age. Angie didn't believe that so much, she just would feel more embarrassed than she already was if his mother-in-law was seated somewhere near her.

Angie, Leslie, Angie's friend Julie, Cybil, and about ten other girls from the Angeles Bay area sat in Leslie's house, 'ooh-ing' as Angie pulled out another piece of lingerie, this one, from Julie. She smiled, but turned it over and over, trying to figure out exactly how it worked.

"Is, everything okay, Ang?" Julie asked, slightly giggling at her friend.

"Yeah, its just… how… I have no – Ok, what the heck is this?"

Julie laughed, taking it from her, as she held it up in the right direction. Angie laughed, mortified, as she thanked her and put it back in the box.

"Geez…" said Cybil. Like her husband at Derek's party, she was the first one to end up drunk. As she slid down the rest of her Cosmopolitan, she turned to Angie, giggling as she talked, words all jumbled together.

"You wouldthinkyou never_SLEPTT_ with t-t-the guy! HA!" she spat out, laughing at the idea afterward.

Angie grew quiet as she and Leslie exchanged a quick glance.

"Oh…my… GOD!" exclaimed Julie, practically jumping out of her seat. "Angie, don't tell me you're serious!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Angie watched as Cybil made a lunge for the vodka bottle, Leslie grabbing it away quickly.

"What's the big deal? So we haven't had sex yet! Does it REALLY matter?"

"Yes, it matters!" she responded. "You'd think after three years – I mean, how do you live?"

"Hey, calm down a bit…" Leslie interjected. "I think it's adorable – they're going to have a really special night tomorrow…" she said, patting Angie's arm.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Julie responded, taking a sip of her drink. "So, Ang – you nervous?"

Angie really didn't want to think about it much. She was quite literally, terrified. Part of her was really looking forward to it because it was Derek – she was so comfortable with him, and she knew that it was going to be amazing. The other part, however – had so many questions she didn't even know where to start.

"Hey, so, while we're talking about this…" Angie started, slamming the rest of her drink to prepare for what was coming next. "I might as well ask all of you seasoned veterans…" Her face turned instantly red as the girls began to clap and cheer, crowding around to start the conversation.

After an hour of stories she had really never wanted to hear from her friends, Angie had all the tips, tricks, advice, and consolation she needed, and was ready to get the party started. So was the pole dancing instructor, who had arrived minutes after their conversation ended.

The extremely tipsy Mrs. Myers-Kasal had decided it would be a good idea to be the first one to try a very risky stunt on the pole. Angie couldn't believe her eyes – the cop turned anesthesiologist was usually so distinguished, so proper… and here she was, swinging around on a pole, drunk off her ass. She had jumped into the air, her legs flailing about as she flew around the pole a few times, before coming down extremely ungracefully onto her butt. She stopped for a second as all the girls gasped in surprise, but the silence had been broken as Cybil started to howl with laughter. Rolling over a few seconds later, she rose shakily to her feet before moving into the kitchen in search of some Advil.

Angie took a sip of her Mimosa in between giggles – what a fun night it had been. She looked at Leslie and smiled before looking at the time.

"Oh, my – I think its time for you to get dressed Ang!"

Angie smiled. 45 minutes was all that stood between her becoming Mrs. Derek Stiles – something she had wanted nearly since the day she had laid eyes on him. She wanted to see him so badly, but the time just seemed to be trickling by mercilessly. Setting her drink down on the end table she disappeared into the hotel bedroom to put on her dream dress. The bridal party gathered outside of the bedroom, waiting for Angie to come reveal herself – nobody had actually seen her in it yet besides Leslie, but even she was excited.

As she attached the veil in the back of her head, Angie spun slowly, seeing herself in a full length mirror. She began to tear up just a little bit, fighting it back for the sake of her make-up. A smile swept across her face as she saw the reflection of her engagement ring, before she pulled her hand up to look at it once more. She spun around and walked over to the dresser, where his wedding band sat in an opened black box. Angie took it out gently and turned it over and over in her hands, smiling at the engraving that took up the entire inside of the band.

"_My doctor, my husband, my friend…"_

Stifling a cry of happiness before it escaped, she buffed the ring before placing it back into the box. Resting her hands on each one of the doorknobs to the double doors, she exhaled gently before opening them, ready to go get married.

* * *

YAY! They're getting married! I love it, and I hope you did too.

PS: Cybil and Greg are drunkies :) and it makes me giggle.

Anyway -- See you next time!


	2. The Matrimony Pony

Alright people, the bachelor and bachelorette parties are over, you know what that means...

As MoonCat says: Let the wedding of Derek Stiles and Angela Thompson COMMENCE!!! WOOHOO!

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Derek walked out of the tiny waiting room and into the giant cathedral, where everyone had taken their seats. Pacing up the stairs of the altar, he stopped himself just left of the center of the aisle, standing directly in front of his mother, Elizabeth Stiles. Dressed in a gorgeous lilac dress with a matching coat, she smiled up at her only son with tears in her eyes, as she mouthed the words "I love you" gently. He sent a soft smile back at her, returning the words as he turned his attention over to Angie's mother on the opposite side of the aisle. She smiled at him, accompanied by a small wave, which he returned as well – things had gotten off to a rocky start with Angie's mother – her being so protective over her only daughter and all… But at rehearsal two days prior, she had pulled him into a giant hug and told him what an amazing guy she thought he was. It looked as though she would finally stop putting him through the ringer… or so he hoped. 

After Tyler, Jason, and Greg had finished ushering all of the guests to their seats, they returned back to the lobby where the limousine had arrived. The three men walked outside and helped their respective bridesmaids out, before Angie's father stepped out as well, helping his little girl to get her giant dress out of the door and into the church. She smiled as she took his hand, walking with him up the stairs, but before she got to the doors, she stopped to talk with him, the girls continuing on into the lobby.

The girls all had their hair parted on the left side, swept back and up into a sphere of giant fluffy curls which rested on the crown of their head. Carrying a bouquet of white roses, each of them had on a baby pink halter style dress, which came to a tasteful V in the front, and created a soft A-line figure all the way down to the floor. They all looked beautiful, but still couldn't get enough of looking at Angie in her fairytale princess dress.

"Where's Angie?" Julie asked, looking around. "She didn't run, did she?"

"What is the matter with you?" Leslie retorted, laughing slightly. "She's outside talking to her dad."

"I wonder what they're talking about…" Cybil mused, leaving all of them to think.

"But, what if I fall, dad? Seriously – what if I fall flat on my face?"

"Oh, Angie – I wish you would stop worrying about stupid stuff like that. I won't let you fall, I promise… if you trip, I'll fall first so it takes the focus off you.."

She giggled. "Okay, dad…"

"My Angie…" Ken started, taking her hand in his. "I cannot tell you how much I regret that I wasn't there for you through your lifetime… But if I hadn't have gone to work for those bastards, you might not be standing in front of me here today, ready to get married…"

Angie teared up slightly, her lips forming a half-smile. "I know Dad – it was hard not having you around, but, I really can never thank you for the sacrifices you made for me… so I could be happy and have a life…"

Ken grabbed his daughter in a tight hug, choking up slightly himself. As he pulled back, he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"I love you, my princess… I'm so glad you found such a good man to spend your life with – I hope you two are very happy together."

She smiled. "I think so -- He makes me so happy, Dad…" she started. "But, I think right now, I'm happiest because not only am I getting married, you get to walk me down the aisle – which is something I never thought would happen…"

Angie's father grinned, before holding his hand out for her to accompany her up the stairs and into the cathedral.

"Shall we?"

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From where Derek was standing, he could see the big brown wooden doors at the end of the aisle, where Angie would come out. On either side of those doors were door-less frames, which is where the groomsmen and the bridesmaids would walk out of, join in the middle, and walk down the aisle together. This was cemented in his mind, as, two nights before, Angie had made everyone do it about 17 times before they were allowed to leave. He smiled as he saw the string quartet take their places out of the corner of his eye – it was getting close… real close.

As Angie and her father walked into the lobby where everyone was waiting, a hush came over their conversation, followed by slight gasps of amazement.

Angie was dressed in a stark white strapless ball gown with a band at the neckline. The satin transitioned seamlessly into the skirt, which boasted a pick up effect all around it and sprawled an impressive distance behind her. The netting underneath allowed for it to be big and fluffy at the bottom, but still showed her tiny form at the top, creating a very dramatic A-line figure. Her perfectly made up face was framed by two very slightly curled pieces of hair, the rest curled in giant fluffy rings. Each side was pulled half back and pinned with a glittering barrette, and those two sections were joined in the back by another barrette that held the base of her veil, which cascaded down her back and stopped just below her waist.

Tyler was the first to approach Angie, a dazed smile on his face.

"Ang – you, look… beautiful" he said, his smile widening as he held out his hands to see if it would be okay to hug her, which she accepted.

"Thanks, Tyler – you guys look pretty handsome yourselves.." she replied, giggling softly as he let her go.

"OH, yeah, we've been working on that… JASON, GREG, come here!" he beckoned. The two men walked towards him confused, but it faded away as Tyler said his next three words.

"Gentlemen… GQ Pose."

And with that, they all took sunglasses out of their pockets, put them on, and stood in varying modeling positions, looking off 'over yonder', leaving Angie and the girls dying with laughter.

Rebounding from the sudden and very random outburst by Tyler and co., the girls took their places behind the left doorway, while the guys took their places on the right, waiting for the cue from the violinists. And with one note, the wedding of Angie Thompson to Dr. Derek Stiles began – a day which they had been waiting for a very long time.

Derek stood on the altar, hands clasped in front of him as he waited for Greg and Cybil to start walking down the aisle. Suddenly, he saw a flash of pink come from the right doorway as Cybil walked out and towards her husband. They joined in the middle, and began to walk towards Derek, whom they noticed wore an irrepressible smile. They both flashed him looks of excitement as they split, taking their respective places on the altar with him, before Greg reached over and shook his hand.

Meanwhile, Angie was outside having her dress fluffed last minute by Leslie, before she smiled and hugged her best friend, tears in their eyes.

Julie and Jason were next. Once again, the couple joined in the middle and began to walk towards Derek, who was beginning to grow nervous. Thoughts were racing through his head of how beautiful Angie's friends looked – and he knew that if they all looked that good, that she was going to knock him flat on his butt. He smiled as they walked in front of him and split, before saying a small prayer that she wouldn't leave him too speechless.

Back in the lobby, Tyler was excited. He ran over to Leslie before she exited the doorway, yelling, "BEST MAN AND MAID OF HONOR!! WOO, LET'S GO!" and slapping her a high five, following with a quick kiss on her cheek. He jumped up and down twice, before darting over to his own doorway, taking his place. Angie shook her head at his sudden excitement, laughing slightly – he really did know how to make her feel better.

As Tyler and Leslie stepped out the doors, Angie took in a big breath, let it go, and then smiled, looking over at her father. He exchanged the glance, kissing her on the forehead gently.

Derek laughed before slapping his forehead out in the church – Tyler really had a habit of getting overly excited about everything, and this time, it resounded through the entire church, leaving the guests chuckling in their seats. Derek began laughing harder once he saw a cool and composed Tyler exit slowly from the door, leaving no traces of the outburst he had just taken part in.

"_I guess that excitement didn't last too long, huh?" _Derek thought to himself.

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"Okay – I guess this is it, huh?" Angie said, giggling slightly.

"Oh Angie – don't be nervous… this'll be the best day of your life – enjoy it." he said, squeezing her hand gently.

She paused. "You're right… I know, I'm ready… just, jittery is all.. I haven't eaten anything in a long time.."

Ken laughed. "I know angel, just – relax… take another deep breath, and if you need to, grab onto your flowers and give em a tight squeeze… just to get all the nervous energy out."

"That's a good idea…" she mused, looking over at him. "Can you hand them to me, please?"

Angie's father stopped, the smile dropping off of his face.

"I don't have them."

Her green eyes widened as she spun around, in search of the bouquet of red roses, beginning to slightly panic as they were nowhere to be found.

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Leslie and Tyler walked towards Derek, who was smiling at the two of them, hands still clasped gently in front of him. As they split and Tyler walked up the stairs to the altar, he stopped in front of Derek, instead of going to his place. Confused, Derek looked at Tyler as his friend leaned in towards him, giving him a pat on the back as he whispered in his ear.

"I've never seen her look so gorgeous in my entire life – prepare yourself, dude… I know how you get when you're caught off guard… But really – congratulations, man, I'm so happy for you…"

Tyler patted him twice on the arm, before pulling back his head to look at a now very nervous Derek. The smile was still on his face, but had faded slightly as he looked towards the big wooden doors in the back, unprepared for her to come through them. He needed more time.. just, a little more time.

Suddenly, two lines began to form in Derek's vision, his immediate trigger for when time was moving faster than he could handle. The third, and then the fourth line drew themselves in the air, before he shook his head a little, stopping himself from completing it. This was going to happen, he was excited for it to happen… he had waited a long time to be able to call Angie his wife, and it was coming true this day. The smile trickled back onto his face as he looked on, waiting for his beautiful bride to come out the door.

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"What do you MEAN you don't have them? Its, my bouquet!! How can it not be here?!" Angie shrieked quietly, turning around in circles trying to think.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Ken rushed, trying to calm her down. "Angie, you don't need more stress right now – just, calm down, and think logically: where was the last place you had them?"

She inhaled sharply. "Well, I was sitting in the limo, and then you helped me get out, and –"

"…the limo!" her father yelped, racing to the doors to the church, which were now closed. "Its still parked outside, just one second Angie…" His excitement died down as he flung open the doors to the church – no limo in sight.

Angie's hands flew up to cover her face as she panicked.

"No, this is not happening, this is not happening…" she repeated, over and over.

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Max Kasal and Amy Chase were walking down the aisle together towards the wedding party. While Amy was a bit old to be performing flower girl duties, she mostly did it as a favor to Derek for helping save her, and to act as a helper for little Max, who barely knew what was going on. She spread red rose petals on the aisle, meanwhile keeping Max from visiting with people in the pews. Decked out in his little black suit, Derek couldn't help but 'aww' internally at him as he ran full force towards Greg, as his father scooped him up in his arms. He pried the small pillow from Max's tiny hands which were grasped onto his shoulder, and bent down, handing the pillow to Amy to watch over. Max pulled his head back to look at Greg and smiled, before saying, "I love you Daddy…" and giving him a kiss on the nose, leaving the entire church to melt, giggling at how cute the boy was. Derek looked on at the two of them, Max now "fixing" his father's hair as he smiled warmly, before turning his attention back to the big wooden doors. This was it.

"Would everyone please rise…" the priest said, bringing the entire congregation to its feet.

Derek smiled. It was really happening.

On the other side of the doors, Ken clicked his phone shut, turning back to the distraught bride before he gave her some good news.

"He just had to run to get gas, that's all – he said he's five minutes away…"

"Oh, thank GOD…" Angie sighed, letting out a deep breath. "But, its time for me to go, now! What do I do?!"

"Just wait, Angie – he'll be here soon. It'll give you time to relax too… you need it." he replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her shining eyes turned upward to meet his, as he saw that she was beginning to cry.

"Oh, honey – please don't cry…" he whispered gently, pulling her into a hug.

"Its just… This has been SUCH a nerve wrecking day, and I just.. I just… no, I can't cry!" She said quietly, backing away from him to fan her face.

"I just – really wanted everything to be perfect…"

"Sweetheart…" he said, stepping towards her. "It is perfect… you just need, to calm, down…"

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Still standing, the guests started to whisper to one another, everyone curious as to why Angie wasn't walking through the doors. An uneasy feeling flooded Derek's stomach, as he looked towards Leslie for answers. She just mouthed "Everything's okay, she's out there.." to him, unable to come up with anything else. Truth is, she was rather curious as to what was going on too.

Cybil turned towards her. "Do you think she isn't going to go through with it?"

"GOD no!" Leslie replied, a perturbed look on her face. "She's out there – we all know she's out there, she just must be calming down, or, going to the bathroom or something… she's coming, I know it."

Leslie turned her gaze back to Derek, who was still standing, hands clasped in front of him, one of his fingers tracing the watch she had given him. Her heart fell heavy as she watched him – she knew that only the worst things were flooding his mind right now.

---------------------------------------------------

Kenneth pulled Angie over to a bench in the lobby, sitting her down.

"If nothing else will make you cheer up…" he continued. "Just think of who's waiting for you on the other side of those doors…"

Angie picked her chin up and looked at her father, the smile returning to her face. She turned her head towards the doors, ready to walk out of them right at that instant and run straight down the aisle towards the love of her life.

"UGH – where IS THAT GUY!?" she groaned, storming over to the doors, her satin dress billowing behind her. Angie looked out into the street, and when she found it limo-less still, she hung her head once more.

"I just want to see Derek, Dad… it'll make this all better.. it always does… I, need to see him…"

Ken stood up and walked over to his daughter, sliding an arm around her shoulder.

"I know it will baby – and, you'll get to see him real soon, I promise…"

-------------------------------------------------

Nervousness turned quickly into full-on panic as there was still no sign of Angie. He shot his gaze over to his mother, who was holding her handkerchief up to her mouth, eyes wide with sympathy for his son. She gave him a reassuring nod as he continued to wait, hoping silently that this was all a big misunderstanding, and that this really wasn't happening to her only child on what was supposed to be a happy day. Derek half-smiled at his mother before running through every bad scenario in his head.

"_She, couldn't do it – she can't marry me, she doesn't love me.. is she hurt? Did she pass out, did… something happen to the dress? Its probably something stupid, but what if it isn't… Angie – please come out here… its okay if you don't want to get married today… just, please… I need to talk to you."_

Derek then looked over to Tyler, who swallowed hard when he saw his friend turn to him. All he could do was move towards him more and pat him on the back, whispering "She loves you, Derek – remember that… it's probably something stupid, that's all."

Something was really wrong here. Derek bit his lip hard as he nodded towards his best friend, before walking to the center of the aisle. Naomi Kimishima watched from the back left of the church, as a look of determination set itself upon Derek's face. She smirked as she watched him move, knowing that he was going to do something about this. And she was right…

If she wasn't going to come out, he was going to go find her.

--------------------------------------------------

Just as Ken squeezed his daughter's shoulders to comfort her, a screech was heard as the limo flew out in front of the church. Angie gasped happily as she tried to rush outside, stopping before she realized that her father had already raced down the stairs and into the limo, where he had retrieved the bouquet; thankfully, still intact. As he walked back towards his smiling daughter, he handed her the bunch of red roses, and she took it, hugging him on his way back through the doors.

"Thank you, father…" she whispered, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Kenneth Blackwell pulled away from his daughter and smiled, before holding his arm out to her. He walked her over to the double doors where he straightened her dress and stood next to her once more, her hand rested in the crook of his elbow. Angie smiled at him once more, before nodding to the men waiting to open the doors. Her fairytale wedding to Derek – her doctor, and the man of her dreams, was about to begin.

-------------------------------------------------

Still scared half out of his mind, the entire congregation watched as Derek started down the four stairs separating him from the rose-petal covered aisle, which was still void of his bride. Desperate to know what was going on, he took the first step, then the second, followed by the third, and after a small hesitation, the fourth, planting his feet on the white aisle runner. He took another deep breath, looking at the stares of the people around him, all of them full of sadness, empathy for what he was going through. After his eyes met with Angie's mother's, she gave him a soft nod which he returned, before he lifted his left foot to take a step down the aisle, readying himself to be put face to face with some very bad news. But much to his surprise, before he could even fully lift that foot off the ground, the wooden doors were pulled open, his beautiful bride standing behind them.

Derek's gaze turned slowly from the floor to the end of the aisle, where he was surprised to see Angie, in one piece, looking more beautifully picturesque than he ever could've imagined. As his brown eyes locked with her green ones, his worrisome expression turned upward into a giant grin, which he was positive was never going to come off of his face for as long as he lived. He chortled twice in succession – half laughing at himself for thinking she would run away, half still completely stunned at how absolutely gorgeous she looked. She beamed as she kept her eyes locked with his, growing ever closer to where he was standing. She admired him standing at the base of the altar, a positively huge smile on his face -- he looked incredibly handsome in his tux, and she secretly couldn't wait just to have him hold her in his arms. As Angie and her father closed in the remaining distance between them and her new husband-to-be, they never took their eyes off one another, leaving everyone watching the ceremony to instantly tear up… even Victor (who, was really just sick from his hangover). Everyone in attendance knew what a rocky road it had been for the two – but had never been in the presence of a couple who devoted themselves to one another more than Derek and Angie did. As Derek's mother watched her son's reaction to seeing his new wife, she wiped tears of happiness away from her eyes – she was glad that after losing the best friend he ever had, that her Derek was able to finally find something that could make him happy every day for the rest of his life.

Derek looked and gave Angie a quick once-over, completely baffled as to how she could possibly look more beautiful than she already was every day. He smiled at her perfectly made-up face, the most stunning dress he had ever seen, and her big, fluffy curls… his favorite, before the pair stopped, face to face with Derek. Ken reached over and hugged his daughter, kissing her on the cheek before pulling back to look at Derek. He shook his hand firmly, pulling him into a quick hug as he whispered, "Take good care of my baby, Derek…". The men released their hold on one another as Derek nodded, before he turned his attention to Angie once again, still shining.

As he held out his hand to her, she smiled at him once more before placing her own hand in his. He squeezed it gently before he whispered "You look perfect…", bringing a tear to her eye. She smiled and squeezed his hand back as she picked up the side of her dress, and they walked the four steps to the altar, ready to finally become husband and wife. As Derek looked over at his princess, he realized that this was the happiest he had ever been in his whole life.

"Dearly Beloved…" the priest began.

Derek squeezed Angie's hand once more as they looked at one another, still smiling and full of excitement for their special day; and as the priest continued to talk, the wedding of Derek Stiles and Angela Thompson was _finally_ underway.

* * *

OMG HOORAY! It is set in motion - they are ACTUALLY going to get married, nothing is going to jump out and screw them over... I PROMISE. 

Things will jump out and screw them over, just... not yet :) not on their special day!

Oh, by the way - anyone who is girly and curious... or just curious :) I searched around for dresses, and the one I described up there is the one I found online and was like, "Whoa, that could be her dress..." Here is the link for the picture of it.. Anyway, hope you enjoyed -- stay tune for the ceremony, the reception, and the wedding night.. WOOF!

http:OOwww-winniecouture-comOSpring2007WebOBridalO8264-htm

Ok, since this stupid thing won't let me include links, here's the translation.

the O's (not 0's like in 2007) represent slashes, the -'s represent .'s Just in case you're curious :) SEE YOU SOON!


	3. A Night to Remember

I'll be honest when I tell you this chapter made me want to shoot myself in the foot. Don't get me wrong, I love it and I'm very happy with the way it turned out... but, man... I just kept forgetting that lots of crap happens at weddings, and that's why this chapter is nearly 8000 words. Good luck, faithful readers -- bring some water with you, because this is going to be a trip.

**I warn you all now, this is so chock full of fluff that marshmallows couldn't hold a candle to it. But, there's some humor in there, and hopefully, its not too sickeningly sweet - remember, its their wedding day! And after what I put them through in KTS, they're allowed to cry happy tears because they're glad I didn't make Angie's wounds fatal... and I didnt.. So, long story short, this chapter equals LOTS OF FLUFF. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.  
**

First of all, let me start with my (mile long) disclaimer.

Trauma Center characters (c) Atlus  
Wedding ideas, script for the ceremony, and (half) of Tyler's best man speech (c) Google search  
Rachelle Thompson (c) PreseatheKitsune  
Derek and Angie's middle names, Elizabeth Stiles, Max Kasal, Julie and Jason and the other half of Tyler's best man speech (c) Me

* * *

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man, and this woman, in holy matrimony…"

Derek squeezed Angie's hand, causing her to shoot a smile over his way. Little did he know, she was about three seconds away from losing it – what an emotional rollercoaster it had been, but they had finally made it.

The priest continued. "…which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore – is not by any means to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly – but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now, or forever hold their peace."

In the audience and dressed to the T, Victor Niguel smirked, thinking of making an objection. He did after all, have to wear a suit because of the two of them… But turning his head to the side he saw Sidney glowering at him, his arms crossed. As he locked eyes with the researcher, he slowly shook his head back and forth threateningly, before Victor wiped the smile off of his face and slumped back into his seat.

Angie breathed a sigh of relief that the moment for objections had passed. For some reason, she had envisioned Victor standing up as a joke, but put it quickly out of her mind – she would've disemboweled him at the reception.

The priest continued to talk as Derek, Angie, their wedding party, and all the guests looked on. From her seat, Elizabeth Stiles beamed, tears in her eyes, as she watched her baby get married – wishing silently to herself that his father would've been alive to see it… he would've been so proud.

As the priest finished his words on the sanctity of marriage, Angie turned and handed her bouquet off to Leslie, before she turned back towards Derek, tears already collecting in her eyes. He gently grabbed both of her hands and smiled lovingly at her, his own eyes growing moist through the glasses that covered them. One look at him, and she knew she was going to lose those tears. Determined not to let them fall because she still had to speak, Angie focused her eyes on Derek's nose instead of looking at him straight on, raising them periodically to look at him. It was his turn first, and as she heard his voice quiver through his own tears, she smiled, but had to fight that much harder to keep her own composure.

The priest spoke. "Repeat after me, Derek…" He rattled off the first words of Derek's vows to his new wife, pausing to give him a chance to repeat them. Smiling, he spoke.

"I, Derek Joseph Stiles, take you, Angela Ann Thompson, to be my wife…"

Angie's heart skipped a beat. He rarely ever called her by her full name.

"…to have and to hold, from this day forward. For better or for worse…"

She glanced down at his hands, still holding hers tightly. Rubbing her thumbs over the backs of his hands, she listened as he continued.

"…For richer or for poorer, in sickness, and in health, through joy and sorrow…"

Squeezing his hands gently, she willed herself to look at him as he spoke the last of his vows to her. Angie was right – tears spilled out of her eyes the second she locked stares with him – looking in his eyes, she knew by the look in his eyes that even though he was repeating words from someone else, he sincerely meant everything he said.

"I promise to love you unconditionally, to laugh and cry with you, to honor and respect you and to cherish you, for as long as we both shall live."

Breathing a big sigh of relief, Derek smiled at Angie as he watched her try to calm herself before she spoke.

"I, Angela Ann Stiles…"

She stopped. Derek grinned as she and he giggled at the cute mistake, the congregation smiling at the blunder as well, before she started over.

"I, Angela Ann _Thompson_, take you, Derek Joseph Stiles, to be my husband…"

Angie shook from the inside out, trying to force back tears that were making their way to the surface.

"…to have and to hold, from this day forward.. f-for b-better or for worse…"

Derek looked at the woman who was becoming his wife, knowing the look on her face all too well. That was the look present on her face anytime her strong will tried to fight back showing something she wanted to stay suppressed. Her voice repeatedly cracked as she continued on.

"…For richer or for p-poorer, in sickness, and in health, through j-joy and sorrow…"

The 10,000 watt smile still present on her face, Angie stared at her husband-to-be, happy that she was rounding the finish line. The tears were flowing, but she was glad that the sobs were able to stay back.

"I promise to love you unconditionally, Derek… to laugh and cry with you, to honor, respect you and to cherish you, for as long as we both shall live."

As they smiled and refused to pull their eyes from one another, Angie's parents sat in the front row, her mother dabbing away tears, her father beaming at how happy his little girl was. Not exactly close after all that had happened, Rachelle Thompson reached over and grabbed her once estranged husband's hand, clasping it in her own for the first time in nearly 16 years.

"The rings, please…" the priest said, motioning to the best man and maid of honor.

Leslie slipped Derek's ring from the handkerchief she had stashed it in, which was wound around the base of her bouquet. As Angie turned around to get it from her, best friends exchanged happy smiles before Angie turned back to Derek, ring in hand. Expecting to see his smiling face, she instead saw the back of his head – he was still talking to Tyler.

"Uh… Tyler?" Derek questioned again, trying to get his best friend's attention. Instead of on Derek, his gaze was on his gorgeous hopefully soon-to-be fiancée, smiling at her. After Derek waited impatiently for a few seconds, Leslie noticed what was going on, and motioned for Tyler to look at him instead of her. When he turned his goofy smile towards Derek, he jumped a bit to see him staring him down.

"What's up dude?" he asked quietly, leaving Leslie to smack her forehead.

"The, ring… Tyler. The ring!"

"Oh…OH!" he jumped, his hand rocketing into his breast pocket, pulling out Angie's wedding band. He handed it to Derek as he chuckled nervously. The groom just shook his head, smiling, as he turned back to face Angie, the priest continuing on.

"These rings are symbols of the vows here taken; circles of wholeness, perfect in form. Derek and Angela, these rings mark the beginning of a long journey together. A journey filled with wonders, surprises, laughter, tears, celebration, and joy. May these rings always glow in the warmth of the love that you share this moment. And each time you hold the hand that wears the ring you gave, let the touch of that ring be a reminder of the vow you made to that person on this day, but more than that, let the touch of the ring you gave always remind you of a love that is so strong, it can last forever."

Derek grasped Angie's ring in his right hand, taking her left hand in his left hand, as he looked in her eyes.

"Angie, with this ring I thee wed, and with all my heart's affection, I thee endow, as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love."

He slipped the glittering eternity band onto her finger and she smiled as she looked at it. He couldn't have better taste in jewelry if he tried.

As Angie held the ring in her right hand, Derek noticed an engraving on the inside, but he couldn't quite make it out. That choked him up pretty badly, and a tear ran down his face as she spoke to him.

"Derek, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love."

She slipped the band on his finger. It was shined platinum, a groove running around the top and the bottom, and it sported three tiny diamonds which sat in a diagonal line in the middle of the band. He smiled as he looked down at it, and then back up at her. _I'm married…_ he thought to himself.

Both beaming, they squeezed each other's hands as the priest spoke once more. This was it, the ceremony was finally ready to come to a close.

"May the blessing that rests upon all who love, rest also upon you, and fill you with all spiritual grace. May the bond that unites you ever be strengthened. May you so love and work together in the days that are to come, that your lives will be enriched and ennobled by a true and deepening union of mind and heart."

"By the powers vested in me by the state of California, I know pronounce you husband, and wife…"

Derek and Angie looked at each other still, giggling slightly at the fact that they were actually married. Wondering why he had paused, Derek sent an inquisitive look over at the priest, who smiled.

"Do I really have to tell you what to do?" he asked, smiling.

Sending him back a warm smile, Derek turned back towards Angie and grinned, before he turned slightly serious. Stepping towards her, he pulled his hands from hers and lightly held her face, looking into her eyes before he kissed her lips passionately, the both of them barely unable to stop smiling. Elizabeth Stiles wiped tears from her eyes as she clasped her hands into her chest, and Rachelle gave Ken's hands a comforting squeeze as the parents watched their respective children share their first kiss as husband and wife. As Derek released her, they exchanged another smile as she pulled away, turning back to grab her bouquet from Leslie, who was crying. Derek grabbed Angie's left hand in his right, and as they turned around to face the congregation, the priest spoke his last words.

"Ladies and gentleman of this congregation, it is with great pleasure that I present to you for the very first time, Doctor and Mrs. Derek Stiles…"

"YEEEEEAAAAHH!!!" Tyler hollered, clapping his hands above his head. The whole congregation immediately followed suit, rising to their feet, whooping, whistling, and hollering in their excitement for the two. As Derek squeezed his wife's hand she turned to look at him, smiling warmly before picking up the side of her dress as they walked down the stairs and back down the aisle together. They passed their colleagues and friends, and Derek laughed when he passed Sidney and Victor. Victor was standing motionless until Sidney elbowed him in the ribcage, producing a small 'oof'. He stood himself back up and started to clap for the two of them, and Derek swore as he walked by, he saw a small, genuine smile on Victor's face… though Derek knew he would deny it until the day he died. As they retreated back into the lobby, he and Angie walked off into the room where they were supposed to wait until the congregation emptied out. As he closed the door behind him, he turned around and walked towards her, lifting her up into the air, arms wrapped around her waist as he kissed her, smiling.

"We're… married!" she stammered, hardly able to get it out without giggles consuming her.

Derek set her down on the ground and kissed her again, before looking her over once more. It seemed that the ceremony went by so fast, that he really hadn't gotten to take in how amazing she looked. Angie giggled as he walked around her once, before stopping in front of her again.

"You, look… so, beautiful…" he started, a grin sweeping his face.

"…Mrs. Stiles."

Angie collapsed into a fit of giggles again as she repeated it. "Mrs. Stiles… hmm. Doctor, and Mrs. Stiles… I love it!"

She reached for her right hand and pulled off her engagement ring. To avoid any confusion, she had pulled the square rock off her left hand before the ceremony and placed it on her right hand so Derek could simply slide the wedding band on without having to worry. Placing the ring back on its rightful finger, she held out her hand as she looked at the sparkling diamond band, the engagement ring happily settled on top of it.

"Do you like your ring?" she asked nervously, but her look faded when he smiled back at her.

"I love it Angie, its perfect – Not too plain, not too gaudy… you have as good of taste in rings as you do in men.." he said jokingly, earning a soft slap in the arm.

She stepped towards him and pulled off the ring as he realized that during the ceremony, he had seen it had an engraving, but didn't know what it said.

"Did you see this during the ceremony?" she asked, looking in his eyes.

Derek shook his head. "Nope – my eyes were too teared up for me to be able to see something that small.." he said, chuckling. Lowering his head, he rested his forehead on hers as she held the ring in her hands, spinning it around to reveal the words _"My doctor, my husband, my friend"_

He beamed as she placed it silently back on his finger, squeezing his hands in hers as she leaned up to kiss him. What a perfect day it had been for the two of them.

A knock was heard at the door as it opened, revealing Tyler and Leslie, giant smiles on their faces. Leslie rushed in first, throwing her arms around the bride as Tyler followed, shaking hands with Derek and pulling him into a hug, apologizing for not paying attention during the ring part.

"We just came to tell you its time for pictures!" Leslie chirped, opening the door for them.

Taking Derek's hand, Angie and her new husband, Tyler, and Leslie all walked back towards the chapel, ready to take the first of what would be more pictures they had ever wanted to take in their lives.

------------------------

"My face, hurts. I literally… unnnghh" Tyler whined, squeezing his cheeks.

"You know Tyler, for someone that's smiling seemingly all the time, you'd think this would be easy for you…" Angie joked, giggling.

The newlyweds walked from the church and into the limo that was waiting for them, ready to go to the reception. As they all plopped down inside, they started reminiscing about how spaced out Tyler was during the ring portion, and how cute Cybil and Greg's son was. The boy sat in his mother's lap grinning as they talked, really impressed with the limo and its spiffy digs.

Derek and Angie's reception was held in an outdoor hall on the coastline of Angeles Bay. The hall had a ceiling but no windows, which made it feel like the perfect balance between an outdoor and indoor reception as the warm air kissed the skin of every guest that was there. All around, the floor of the building extended past the roof's covering, leaving a shaded dinner area inside and an uncovered veranda to which guests could walk out, converse, and enjoy the view. On the side of the building facing the ocean, the veranda extended outward into a large platform, which then led to a dance floor, with small concrete walls stretching about two feet high surrounding it. Those walls were decorated with tulle and more flowers, creating an intimate landscape around the dance floor – the music being supplied by a live swing band which was playing soft romantic music as the guests waited for the bride and groom to arrive.

Inside, crisp white linens covered all of the tables, and in the center were impressive centerpieces. Standing almost three and a half feet tall, the thin, clear vases held a giant bouquet of pink roses, Angie's favorite, which cascaded in all directions from the vase, creating a giant globe of flowers. The chairs were covered in white satin and tied with a light pink bow in the back. The cake was five tiered, red velvet, and frosted with white fondant, with a trail of red roses spinning around it and to the bottom. Everything had been decorated to the T, which was a testament to how glad Derek had been when Angie had finally said, "We're done!"

As the limo pulled up outside the walkway into the reception hall, the wedding party exited, and walked up the trail to the base of the building, where they lined up and waited for the singer from the band to introduce them. There were stairs leading up into the reception hall which they would all take and walk inside upon hearing their names. Derek kissed his wife on the cheek as they waited, and she wrapped her arms around him before they heard what they were waiting for.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I have your attention please?" the singer asked, his voice billowing over the reception, lulling it to silence. "It has come time for me to welcome the bridal party – first, let's give a warm welcome to Greg and Cybil Kasal!"

The attendees broke into applause as Greg and Cybil slowly made their way up the stairs and came into the view of the nearly 250 people in attendance. Carrying his son, Greg laughed as Max clapped for his mom and dad as they walked down the path the people had cleared for them.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Angie exclaimed as Julie and Jason made their way up the stairs and into the hall. "I forgot to take this off!"

Derek turned and looked at her as she wrapped her hands around to the back of her head, and with a small clip, removed the veil from the glittery barrette that held it in. He smiled as she fluffed out her curls which had been hidden underneath the sheer fabric, before she folded the veil up and handed it to him.

"Can you run this back to the limo REAL quick? Please?" she said, smiling. Derek grabbed it from her and jogged slowly back to the limo, where he opened the door and threw it in before walking back to take his place. He watched dumbfounded as she pulled in her giant train and found little hooks on the edge of the dress. With Derek's help, they took the little hooks around the edge of the train and hooked them to little buttons up and underneath her skirt, making the train disappear. With no veil, and no giant train, it looked like a completely different ensemble – like, she was ready to party.

"You look gorgeous…" he said, kissing her on the cheek.

She giggled and kissed him on the lips. "Now that I got rid of all that bulk, I think its time we go celebrate… okay, husband?"

"…Best man and maid of honor, Tyler Chase and Leslie Sears!"

"Okay, wife.." he replied.

More applause.

Derek gripped Angie's hand as he looked at her again, the smile failing to wipe itself off of his face. She made him happier than he could ever begin to express.

"Please, Derek – don't let me trip on the way up?" She pleaded, giggling slightly.

He laughed at her incessant fear of making a fool of herself, and nodded, before they stepped to the base of the stairs, walking up them slowly.

"And now, it gives me great pleasure to present to you one more time, Doctor and Mrs. Derek Stiles!!"

The crowd launched into a roar as Derek and Angie stepped up the stairs and into the room, greeted by the smiling faces of their family, friends, coworkers, and other loved ones. Still holding hands, Derek led her through the hall and to the table where the rest of the wedding party were already waiting for them.

------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, this looks… so, good.." Derek said, looking at Angie. The dinner plates had just been set down in front of them, and they looked delicious. Derek had torn the cover off of his as soon as it hit the table, starving because his nerves had not allowed him to eat all day. A plate of Osso Bucco was resting in front of him and his mouth watered a tiny bit, savoring the sweet smell as well as admiring the presentation. Angie was talking to Leslie while this was happening, and had not yet removed the lid from her plate, which made Derek curious. He nudged her, and she turned towards him, smiling as he asked her, "What did you get? Chicken salad?"

She laughed. "Why did you guess Chicken Salad?"

"Well, I just figured, because of the dress and all, and nerves, that you would order something smaller.."

Angie laughed at him again, before a small pout came on his face.

"You'd think after almost four years, that you would know me better than this…" she said, lifting off the cover to reveal one of the biggest steaks he had ever seen in his life.

Before he could say another word, an incessant noise bore into Derek's brain, making him wince slightly. He looked up to see Tyler, his face contorted into the smile of a small child, as he tapped his glass repeatedly with his fork. A whopping THREE minutes into dinner, Derek sighed, knowing this was going to be Tyler annoying the hell out of them all night. His mild annoyance turned to a smile as he felt Angie pull his chin so that he was facing her, and felt her plant a kiss sweetly on his lips. The crowd awwed at them for a minute before turning back to their conversations and dinners, leaving Derek and Angie to do the same.

After the plates were cleared, Angie excused herself to go to the ladies' room, Leslie joining her. Derek pushed his chair back away from the table and grabbed his glass of water, walking out into the sunshine where he joined Sidney and Greg, who were conversing. Derek was careful to make sure that the only alcohol he had in his system came from the upcoming champagne toast – he wanted to remember every part of his and Angie's special day, and didn't want to risk making a fool of himself in front of their families, either. As he continued to sip his water, Greg and Sidney turned around to talk to him. With a slap on the back, Greg smiled, sipping his own drink as he congratulated Derek on his marriage.

"Derek – you, are a special guy." Sidney started. Noticing something was off, Derek smiled but watched out of the corner as Greg rolled his eyes at his younger brother.

"Am I, missing, something?" Derek asked, chuckling slightly, raking a hand through his slightly disheveled hair, scratching the back of his head.

"No." Greg replied, laughing. "Sidney is just, the lightweight of the family… he brings shame upon generations of Kasal men that can actually hold their liquor..."

"Yeah…" Sidney started, slightly wobbly. "It's true.. I think I should go sit down…"

Greg patted his brother on the back before he, Derek, and Sidney started back into the dining hall.

As soon as Derek reentered the room, the glasses began to clink again, but Angie was still in the bathroom – this wasn't going to work. Still weaving through the tables, Derek, Greg and Sidney stopped, their drinks still in hand, in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do about the fuss. Derek shrugged his shoulders as he looked around for his bride, chuckling when the clinking of the glasses still refused to cease.

Tipsy enough, Sidney decided he would remedy the guests hunger for a little PDA, and wrapped his arm around Greg's shoulder, planting a kiss on the older twin's cheek with a loud "MWAAHH!". The crowd erupted in laughter, and when Greg shoved Sidney off of him and wiped his cheek clean, he turned to his side to see Derek hunched over, tears in his eyes as he pointed to the photographer, who had just captured the very "special" moment on film. Greg walked away, shaking his head and laughing as Sidney followed him, laughing so hard he could barely stand.

As Derek turned around, still slightly chuckling, he saw his bride walk back into the room, locking eyes with her immediately. Hands in his pockets, he watched her walk over to him smiling, before the glasses started to clink once more. Angie rolled her eyes, but obliged, allowing her new husband to kiss her as the crowd admired the two of them. As they took a seat again at their table, Derek watched as Tyler walked over to the band, grabbed the mic from them, and walked back over. Knowing that this time was coming, Derek grew a tiny bit nervous, wondering just what Tyler had in store for the both of them, but sighed as he first passed the mic to Leslie.

She spoke of how her and Angie came to be friends, how she watched Derek and her fall in love, and how they had been a great example of love for her and Tyler. She teared up as she spoke of the rocky road they had been on, but smiled as she congratulated them on their special day, and held up her glass to toast the two of them. Angie touched her glass to Derek's, as he touched his lips to hers, whispering "I love you" as he pulled away. Now, it was Tyler's turn – and both the newlyweds noticed that he had a grin the size of Texas on the size of his face before he stood up. This was not going to be good.

"Good Afternoon Ladies, Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Tyler Chase. And for those of you that do know me... well, I apologize in advance."

Derek grabbed Angie's hand with his right hand, resting his left in his lap. He gazed down at his wedding band for a second and smiled softly, before he turned his attention back to Tyler, who was most likely going to humiliate the two of them quite soon.

"Foolishly," he continued. "Derek has given me the great honor of being best man for him on this very special day. Let me just say how grateful I was to have been chosen to speak at such a joyous occasion, the wedding of my best friend Derek and his beautiful new wife Angie. …Unfortunately, those feelings of gratitude have now gone out the window and I stand here before you ... terrified."

The attendees started to laugh like crazy at Derek's best man, the bride and groom included. Not shaken yet, he pressed on.

"I've known him for wow, almost four years.. and I can honestly say that I've never seen him happier as when Angie finally gave in and went out with him. She has not only changed his life for the better, but she has brought out the best in him. Quite honestly, if you would've told me that this is how Derek was going to turn out when he and I started working together, I would've laughed at you… Angie has definitely made an impact on him, and the biggest testament to that is the fact that he actually showed up to their wedding on time."

The crowd bursted out laughing again, Angie especially. Derek was a good sport and chuckled along as his bride howled with laughter, hugging him as he smiled. Shrugging, he held his hands up in front of him to indicate that Tyler was right.

"The world famous surgeon seated before you today is a man of impeccable character – with Angie by his side, the two of them worked endlessly to help us defeat GUILT, therefore, making the world a safer place for each and every one of us here…"

The couple smiled at one another as the room grew silent, each attendant reflecting upon the incident with great respect for the two.

"Angie, I'm going to ask you to place your hand on the table right now, and Derek, place yours on top of it."

Confusion in their eyes, the couple did as they were told, looking to Tyler afterwards to know what this was all about.

"Although Derek is responsible for nearly saving mankind, it does still make me smile when I see him unable to win any argument between the two of them.. so that's why, I wanted you to do this little thing with your hands, to give my buddy one last chance to have the upper hand.. enjoy this moment Derek – it most likely won't happen again…"

The crowd nearly died with laughter, Derek and Angie following suit as Tyler continued once more.

"The final and most important task, of the best man is knowing when enough is enough… and I think that that time has arrived as I look down at my girlfriend and see her with her head in her hands, silently wondering what I have done."

All eyes turned on Leslie as the laughter continued – he was absolutely right, she was laughing, but her hands were shielding her face.

"I just want to tell you Derek," he continued once more, placing a hand on the groom's shoulder. "That I really couldn't be happier for the two of you – we've watched you both go through hell and come out without a scratch on you, and I know that no matter what life throws at you, that your love is enough to pull through it. If everyone will join me in raising a glass, I'd like to propose a toast, to Derek and Angie – my two best friends in the world – I wish you all the happiness that's out there… Cheers"

As everyone toasted the couple, Derek kissed Angie again, before rising out of his seat to give his best man a hug. Tyler returned the mic to the band and they made a call for Derek and Angie to come outside on the floor, for their first dance.

--------------------------------------------------------

As the band began to play an instrumental version of "The Way You Look Tonight", Derek smiled as he pulled Angie to the middle of the floor, spinning her around before he pulled her into him, wrapping his newly ringed hand around the small of her back. His right hand grabbed her left hand and he pulled the both of their hands in between their chests, holding them close to his heart. Her arm around his neck, they slowly swayed around, looking into each other's eyes as Angie intermittently sang some of the words to the song, before stopping to talk.

"Honey?" she asked, green eyes glassy with happy tears.

Derek smiled and raised his eyebrows quizzically.

"Thank you… so much." she replied still grinning, but barely able to choke out the words.

"For what, Angie?" he asked, looking at her with slight concern.

A single tear ran down her cheek, which he promptly wiped away, before she responded.

"For this perfect day… for wanting to spend your life with me… and for being the man of my dreams.."

"I think I should be the one that's thanking you… I was surprised someone as amazing as you ever gave me a chance.. but I'm glad you did, Ang. I love you."

She smiled at him as another tear flowed down her face. Derek tilted his head to the right and moved his face closer to her, parting his lips slightly and pressing them against hers as they continued to dance.

Still in her seat watching her only child dance with her new husband, Rachelle Thompson felt a hand on her shoulder, belonging to her husband. He squeezed it gently before he sat down next to her. Her green eyes locked with his dark ones and she smiled before she turned her attention back to the happy couple.

"Derek is really going to take care of our Angie… I can tell by the way he holds her…" she said softly, Ken nodding in agreement.

"Yeah… I can't help thinking of how they remind me of us back then…" he stammered out as she looked at him surprised. Ken planted a kiss on his wife's cheek before she grabbed his hand, watching as the newlyweds' dance came to a close.

Angie kissed Derek again as the guests applauded, before the time came for her to dance with her father.

Kenneth Blackwell made his way out to Angie, escorting his daughter out to the middle of the floor again as he began to dance with her. Derek smiled as he looked on, before he made his way back through the crowd, stopping in front of a woman to whom he extended his hand.

"Dance with me, mom?" he asked, smiling. Elizabeth Stiles placed her hand in her son's and allowed him to walk her out to the floor, where they began to dance next to Angie and her father.

"Derek…" she started softly, getting his attention. "I, am so.. proud of you for the wonderful man you've turned out to be."

Derek felt as his cheeks flushed in lieu of his mother's statement. "Thank you…" was all he could reply.

"You've done so much, in your lifetime already, and you're still so young… you're at the top of the medical field, you're world-famous, you annihilated a disease that threatened mankind as a whole, and now you have a beautiful wife… and soon, you may just be able to start a family of your own.."

She stopped, before choking up slightly, her eyes filling with tears.

"Your father, Derek… he loved you so much, you were his _world_…"

Derek choked up as well, before she continued.

"I wish that he was here to see how happy you are today… but I know that he's looking down on you. And I know, that when its time that you and Angie start your own family, that you'll be as wonderful of a father as yours was…"

His mother watched as he looked over at his wife, who was chatting happily with her father, the one he had saved from near-death. Elizabeth looked at her son, whose eyes reflected warm, loving feelings as he stared on at her.

"You really love her, don't you Derek?" she asked.

Derek slowly turned his attention back towards her, smiling.

"More than anything, mom… She's, perfect…"

She smirked as well. "I think so too, Derek – she makes a perfect addition to our family…"

--------------------------------------------

Talking to Julie, the other bridesmaid, Leslie didn't even get to finish the rest of her sentence before Tyler ran from behind and pulled her towards the dance floor, launching her into a fit of giggles.

Meanwhile, Sidney Kasal stood, conversing with Cybil, Greg off in the bathroom with their son. Suddenly, the elder Kasal popped around the corner and stole Cybil away, pulling her over to the dance floor. Sidney watched, smiling, as Greg and Cybil danced, Max having the time of his life scooped up in his father's grasps. A trigger went off in his mind as he spun around slowly, panning the room until he found what he was looking for.

Sidney paced over to the table in the far left corner of the room where he pulled up a seat next to the woman, who was sitting alone, enjoying her cocktail. As soon as he sat she turned her gaze upward, locking eyes with him. He smiled.

"Naomi, it sure is good to see you again…"

She grinned, trying to hide the faint blush on her cheeks. "Yes, Sidney – the pleasure's all mine.. its been, too long.."

He nodded. "Yeah, I haven't seen you since… well, that night.." He bowed his head sheepishly, before raising it back up to look at her.

Naomi nodded. "Yeah, that was some night… too bad I had to leave for Europe after, I would've loved to have stayed with you… I-I mean, you know.. here, in America.."

Sidney chuckled at her nervousness before he rose to his feet, her eyes following him.

"Well, since you are here, we better make this a night to remember."

Her expression turned inquisitive as he extended his hand.

"Dance with me…"

-------------------------------------------

A night full of dancing, friends, and just an all-around amazing time later, Derek and Angie's celebration had finally come to a close. Thankfully, Leslie had remembered before the limo left for the night that Angie's veil was still inside, so she made sure to throw it in the back of Derek's car as her, Julie, Jason, and Tyler all decked Derek's Jeep out with wedding paraphernalia. Tyler giggled as he left a little surprise for Derek in the front seat, before the four of them scattered from the car and back to the party, just in time.. it was time for Derek and Angie to make their exit.

Through a barrage of rose petals in the air and camera flashes, the newlyweds made their way through the crowd of people and to his car, where Derek helped his bride in before he got in himself. If he had not been paying better attention, he would've sat on Tyler's special surprise, which was a small unwrapped box. As he plopped into the driver's seat, Derek opened the box, only to laugh like crazy.

"Oh Lord, what did he do now..?" Angie asked, giggling already.

Derek held the opened box out towards her to see, and she too began to giggle out of control.

Inside was a huge bag of strawberries, a can of whipped cream, and a note that said, "Have a very enjoyable night, Mr. and Mrs. Stiles – Love, L & T." with a winky face next to it.

"What a bunch of pervs…" Derek muttered as he put the gift in the backseat, buckling his seatbelt. He leaned over and kissed Angie one more time before he started up the car and drove back towards _their_ home.

As Derek turned the key in the lock, he smiled as he looked down at his wedding ring on the hand holding the doorknob, before he twisted it and shoved the door open, turning on the light. He motioned for Angie to walk inside, and as she started to, he jumped.

"WAIT WAIT!" he yelped, causing her to jump back a little.

"Derek, what on EARTH are you doing?" she asked as her hand clasped her chest, freaked by his sudden outburst.

He shook his brown hair out of his face as his dark eyes locked with her emerald ones, a playful grin on his lips. In one swift movement, he stooped down and scooped Angie up into his arms and carried her through the door to their home, kicking the door shut behind him. She giggled as he set her down, and she walked over and plopped down on the couch, exhaling sharply. Derek followed suit, loosening his tie a little before he sat down next to her… it did feel good to finally relax.

"What, a day… huh?" he asked, exhaustedly rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I know… my feet, are.. killing me." she sighed, holding up her giant heels for him to see. Derek reached down and pulled her feet into his lap and took off her shoes, as he began to rub them gently. She let out a soft sigh, resting her head against the couch, enjoying the moment. Angie hated to admit it, but she was extremely exhausted.

The pair sat in silence as Derek continued to massage her aching feet, before he spoke.

"This was hands down, the best day of my life…"

Angie opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"I know – I can't believe, we're actually married…" she replied, holding her hand out to look at her wedding band, to which he did the same thing as he smiled. He patted her feet twice as he pulled them off his lap and set them back on the couch.

"I'll be back, I promise – I'm just, dying, to get out of this tux…" he said, standing up. "Do you want help up?"

Angie shook her head as she laid back on the couch, her gorgeous satin dress billowing all around her. "Nope – I'm just going to lay here for a minute while you go clean yourself up and relax."

He smiled at the sight of her barely awake as she lay on the couch. Blonde curls still perfectly intact, her breathing slowed as she relaxed, a perfectly content look cemented on her face. Angie let out a soft sigh as Derek leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, before retreating to his bedroom, all but tearing off his tux on the way there.

Stripping down completely, he pulled a pair of dark blue basketball shorts on over his boxers before he walked back into the living room where Angie was almost asleep. Surprisingly, she sat up as he plopped next to her.

"Aren't you excited to get that dress off yet?" he asked, chuckling, but stopped when he saw her sad expression.

"Actually, I don't want to take it off…" she replied "I know I'm never going to get to wear it again, so I want to enjoy it for every last minute I can…"

Lingering for a second, Angie finally pulled herself off the couch and smiled at him before she walked back into their bedroom, grabbing something from her dresser before she walked back into the bathroom. Completely exhausted himself, Derek sat on the couch, eyes closed as he relaxed, accidentally letting himself slip off into a small slumber. Moments after, Angie had emerged from their bedroom and walked over to the couch slowly, where she found her new husband asleep. Smiling to herself, she locked the door to their apartment before she paced back over to the couch where he was resting, and straddled his lap, hoping that the extra weight would wake him – and it did.

Derek stretched, eyes still closed before he groggily opened them. As soon as Angie came into view, his eyes shot open immediately, leaving her to giggle at him.

Dressed in a white lacy nightie that clung to her body, all Derek could do was stare dumbfounded at his wife, as she sat on his lap. Not leaving much to the imagination, the nightie cut down low in the front, was very short, allowing him access to her smooth, slightly tanned legs, and hugged all the right places. She had pulled her long, blonde hair out of the clips which had held it back before, it now swirling around her smiling face. Staring him in the eyes, she silently waited for a reaction.

"U-uh… um, hey… wow, Angie… heh… woww…"

Derek's nervous fumbling made her giggle harder. Raking her fingers through his hair, she leaned forward and passionately kissed his lips as he let out a soft sigh, his hands slowly running up her legs. Before they could get anywhere, she rose off of him and held her hand out, which he accepted as he rose to his feet. She walked over and switched off the lights to the living room, the only light present in the entire apartment now coming from the closet in their bedroom. Smiling, Derek walked forwards as Angie walked backwards, while they kissed each other slowly, but passionately, as they made their way to the bedroom. As soon as they got in the door he stopped, and looked at her.

"Angie, if, you're too tired.. if you want to wait, we can…" he stammered out, internally hoping that wouldn't be the case.

She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed his forehead, before grabbing his left hand.

"See this?" she asked, holding up his hand with the ring on it to show him. "This means, we're married… that you're my husband… that, we made it, Derek…"

He smiled, holding his hands up in defense. "Okay, I get it Mrs. Stiles…" he replied, to which she giggled again.

"You're sure though? I told you I would wait until you were ready…" he asked, a serious tone to his voice.

Angie walked around behind him and shut the door to their bedroom, before she turned off the closet light. The moonlight trickling in through the window cast a soft illumination over the room, highlighting the two of them just well enough for them to be able to see each other completely. As she walked back over to him slowly, he smiled, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"I have been waiting almost four years for this night – I have never been more ready for anything in my life…"

She sat on the edge of the bed, her husband still standing in front of her, hands on his hips, a serious look on his face. He walked over to the head of the bed where he pulled back the sheets and the comforter, as she watched him still seated bed's foot. Derek walked back over to where she was sitting and stopped in front of her, before a smile trickled onto his face. Angie's heart began to race as he stooped down slightly, planting a few small kisses on her neck, his hands moving up her legs slowly. As he pulled his face back to look at her, his loving smile eased her nerves as he kissed her once more, before sliding his hands all the way up her body, taking the covering with it. Tossing it onto the floor, he lifted her into his arms, legs wrapped around his back as he knelt up onto the bed, walking on his knees towards the middle where he laid his new wife down gently, allowing her head to rest perfectly on the mound of pillows at the top. Arms locked, he suspended his face above hers as he removed his glasses, allowing a single tear of complete joy to fall from his face, landing on her shoulder. Angie grabbed his face gently and pulled it towards her own, locking him in a slow, soft kiss, before he sank his weight on top of her, pulling his face back to kiss her neck again. As he pulled his head back up, he brushed her hair away from her face with his own, before he whispered sweet words in her ear, causing her to choke up. It was a moment so sweet, and so tender that there was no need to rush, to press through it… All that mattered was that they were finally married, and were sharing the first time they made love in their home, their bed, on their wedding night… together. As their nerves gradually subsided, Derek and Angie held and caressed one another, reveling in the moment which they had been waiting for forever – the ultimate expression of their eternal love.

* * *

Aww. You know it had to end that sickeningly sweet... come on, its me.

This is the point where I commend you if you are reading these end notes - to read all the way through this chapter, you are truly a hero. I salute you.

But - the story isn't over yet - I couldn't bear to give them something to worry about on their big day - so, I'll wait till after their big day.. :) What kind of crazy twists and turns will Dr. and Mrs. Stiles have coming their way? You'll find out...

... next time! See you then!


	4. The Newlyweds

_**Disclaimer:** _

**I will put this bluntly. Though it is tastefully done, this chapter is about sex. Lots, of sex. It's not graphic - at least _I_ don't find it to be, but I will warn you now. That's all this chapter is about, is sex. So, if you feel like you may not be able to handle it, I suggest you abort this now. If you have a dirty mind like I do, then all the better! I hope you enjoy it!**

**SEX. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. **

* * *

Golden rays of sun trickled in through a slightly opened window, the curtains around it gently swaying with the crisp morning air. Monday morning had come fast – the whirlwind that was Sunday had finally come to a close, and while it was a relatively sleepless night, it didn't feel as such. While other Mondays were full of missing the weekend and frequent beatings of an alarm clock, trying to get every last wink of sleep possible, this Monday was different. There was no rush to get up and get going, or go to work, there was just time to simply relax – to stay in bed as long as one's heart desired. 

Although the promise of a lazy day was very fulfilling, the second the sun trickled in through the window to his bedroom, Derek Stiles was gently awoken. He felt himself smiling, and wondered silently if that smile had been there all night, or if it just accompanied him with consciousness. Derek would've usually been freezing had that window been open, but the source of warmth that lay beside him was enough to make the breeze feel extremely comforting. As he reached to rub his eyes, he noticed quickly that one of his hands wasn't complying with his request, as his fingers were still intertwined with those of the other occupant in the bed, and had been all night. For a time period of which he couldn't establish, Derek laid silently in bed, his smile cemented on his face as he looked at his _wife_, sleeping soundly next to him.

Memories of the night before flashed through his mind as he looked at Angie, watching as she took in small, shallow breaths, completely unlike the loud rapid ones coming from her just hours before. Sneaking a glance at the hand that held hers, he glanced at his wedding band, checking to make sure that the visions he was replaying were not those of a dream, but those of a real memory for him. His smile growing, he remembered the way her skin felt against his, the tears they both had cried, the way she held him and the words she had whispered. Permanently embedded in his brain was every time her lips connected with him, whether the connection be with his lips or another part of his body, as well as every moan, every breath the two of them had expelled, and every bead of sweat that had formed on their skin. Scanning the sheets with his eyes, he could still see the spots where they were crinkled, and his mind immediately skipped back to when he watched as her perfectly manicured nails dug into the mattress, squeezing the life out of the sheets as she tried desperately to gain some composure over the sensations that ripped through her body.

Still softly grinning from ear to ear, Derek's memory finally passed over the part of the night where it all came to a high after an experience which had technically started at the beginning of the night, but had really been a buildup that had lasted ever since they had been together. He remembered locking eyes with her as his lips caught hers once, then twice, before they were suddenly out of his reach due to her head being slowly extended backward as her back arched. Fingernails had abandoned the sheets and began to dig into his biceps, the pressure slowly building. When it finally came to a head, he had buried his face into her chest, eyes tightly shut, as the two of them hit a sweet release at the same time, their bodies shaking, breathing uneven at best. Derek remembered as Angie's back had straightened a bit later, her head pulled into its normal position as tears rolled down her face, locking with his, which were doing the same thing. He remembered staying with her in that suspended position for awhile, the two of them trying to calm themselves as they held each other close, kissing and hugging like crazy. A small while later, Derek gently slid out, before he gently collapsed into her arms, the both of them completely exhausted, but too happy to acknowledge it. It was a night which had completed them, taking their relationship to a magnitude of which it had never been. Several passionate kisses and 'I love you''s later, Derek had rolled over next to her, pulling her into his arms where he held her tightly. While no words needed to be said, Angie made an attempt anyway, causing Derek to laugh at her when the only thing she could stammer out was "…wow". Curled up with his wife, he gently drifted off towards sleep, before she had finally managed to calm herself enough to whisper one last thing before he fell asleep.

"_Thank you, Derek, for the most perfect day I've ever had – I love you, sweetheart."_

She had planted a small kiss on his cheek after that, thinking he was asleep, but he wasn't. He had heard every word, and had felt that kiss, which caused him to fall asleep with a smile on his face - probably the same one that he had woken up with.

Lifting his head slightly, Derek noticed the random scattering of their clothes around the room as he chuckled to himself. Turning his attention back to Angie, he gently brushed strands of her curled hair away from her face, exposing it in its entirety. Although her makeup was slightly smeared and her hair a bit disheveled, Derek could swear that in that moment, she came close to looking as beautiful as she did on their wedding day. The only thing that covered her now was a thin white sheet, held closely to her body by her left hand which was rested on her stomach, the glimmer of her ring and wedding band reflecting in the sunlight. Unable to not be able to touch her anymore, Derek pulled the hand that was holding hers out of the grasp, and lightly draped it across her body, hugging around her waist as he gently rolled over until he was above her, and kissed her good morning. Motionless at first, suddenly Derek felt her lips return the kiss as she sighed gently, a smile creeping across them as he continued to plant small kisses on her mouth. As he pulled away, he smiled as he watched her hands wipe away the smeared makeup, knowing exactly where it was without having to use a mirror. He waited patiently as she finished, before she turned her attention back to him, that famous 10,000 watt smile plastered on her face.

"Just the face I love to wake up to.." she said softly, voice still groggy. "Good morning, Derek…"

He smiled. "And good morning to you, my gorgeous wife…" he replied, to which she giggled before kissing him again.

He collapsed back onto the bed as he pulled her towards him, her arm slung across his chest and her head rested right next to his on the pillow. Faces turned towards each other and mere inches away, they traded happy smiles and small kisses, just content with relaxing in each other's arms.

"I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd say I slept with this smile on…" Angie said, a slight giggle to her tone.

"No, you didn't. I was watching…" he replied, to which she looked at him questioningly. "I thought the same thing, because as soon as I remember being conscious, I remember having a giant smile on my face."

"You were, watching me?"

"Just for a little bit when I woke up this morning – couldn't help it, you're beautiful."

While she didn't particularly like idea of being watched while she slept, Angie couldn't help but forgive him at that statement. Collapsing back into his arms, she listened intently as he took in a big breath, before speaking again.

"So…?"

"So..?" she repeated back, wondering what he was asking about.

"So, last night… well, last night slash this morning.." Derek said, chuckling as he thought about how many times they had gone at it.

"Are you trying to ask me how it was?" she replied, catching his drift.

"Well, yeah – I mean, I guess that's where I'm going with it…"

She smiled. "You first."

"But, that's not fair, I asked y—"

"You first, Derek."

Racking his brain with an appropriate way to describe the best night of his life, he came up short, failing to find words in the English language that could do it justice.

"Well, it was…. indescribable… but, in the best way." he finally said, letting the memories to flood back once more.

Angie turned her head up at him and smiled, kissing him on the cheek before she laid her head back down next to his.

"What about you?" Derek asked, silently wishing she wouldn't tell him that it sucked.

Although she wasn't looking at him, he could feel her smile.

"I honestly can't believe how amazing it was – I really wasn't expecting it to be that great."

"HEY!" he exclaimed, slightly offended. "Thanks for the credit, Angela…"

"Hey now, don't you full name me!" she said as she sat up, still holding the sheet to her body. Derek smiled internally because the joke was on her – that sheet was see-through anyway.

"I didn't mean that I wasn't expecting it to be good, Derek – you knew how much I was looking forward to it… but all the people I've talked to said how much sex is overrated, so, I don't know… I guess I just was really taken aback at how completely _amazing_ it was… how, good it felt… how, much more it made me love you…" she explained, laying back down next to him.

He smiled at her after the explanation, before turning contemplative.

"You know, I know that your friend Julie was the one you talked to a lot about it – and do you maybe think that the reason she thinks its so overrated is because she's just having sex for the sake of sex?"

She stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean people who have sex just to have sex. What happened last night was definitely not that – it was us, well, making.. love, Ang. A different way to express how much we love each other, and something that we've abstained from for over three years of being together, only to have the first time be the night that we get married… you know what I mean?"

Angie nodded, smiling. She felt so lucky at that moment to have been able to have shared that moment with someone like Derek – someone who respected and loved her enough to wait for as long as they did.

"…you should've known that I was enjoying myself – I mean, I'm quite literally mortified right now at how loud I was…" she said, beginning to giggle again.

"Yeah, Ang, I was thinking about that when I woke up… you probably should send some apology cards to the neighbors, or something… they're probably going to hate us now" he replied, barely unable to contain his laughter.

She reached over and grabbed a pillow, before pulling it over herself and whacking him in the face with it, and then a few more times in the chest.

"Not, funny" **Whack**. "Derek" **Whack** "Stiles!" she exclaimed, slightly annoyed that he still hadn't stopped laughing. Slowly, she calmed herself and put the pillow back to its rightful place before she dropped her scowl in favor of a smile. Snuggling up to him again, she sighed contently before an evil grin trickled onto her face. She sat up once more, pulling the sheet along with her again, as she spoke. Derek could interpret that look on her face from a mile away – she was going to ask him for something, and as far as he was concerned, it better not involve getting out of bed. This was a day to relax, not do stuff.

Sure enough, that's what she wanted, was something from him.

"Derek…" she started in a sweet tone, taking his hand. "There's something I want from you right now…" Her fingers traced his wedding band as she smiled up at him, trying to get him to cave into what she wanted.

"I love you, but no." he said, chuckling at the instant scowl on her face.

"But, Derek, you don't even know what I was going…" she rebutted, eyes wide.

"Nope, I am not paying attention… not happening."

Her face hardened with determination, Angie dropped the sheet she was holding, giving Derek an eyeful as she raised both of her eyebrows.

He looked down and paused for a minute, before looked back in her eyes.

"I'm listening." he said, receiving a soft smack on the arm for being a pervert.

He sighed. "Okay, Angie… what do you want…" he started, still staring at her body.

With a swift move, she pulled the sheet off of him as well and pounced onto his chest, pulling the sheet up and over their heads and giggling profusely.

It was the last time that Derek would ever refuse a favor from Angie again.

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That same day was the day they left for their six day honeymoon in Maui, where they had stayed after their engagement. This time, while they made time for the beach and other activities, a great deal of time was spent alone in their suite together. On the one day it had rained while being there, they hadn't left the room the whole day, and had only left the bed when it was absolutely necessary.

Upon returning home, it was very obvious that Dr. and Mrs. Stiles were enjoying married life. They were enjoying married life in bed, in the shower, on the couch, in the kitchen, and even in the on-call room at work a few times. Pleasure-filled moans now took the place of where conversation was usually present, as the two of them acted like love-sick teenagers, absolutely unable to keep their hands off of one another for any period of time. It was like they had fallen in love all over again, but this time, it was more, well, eventful, I guess one might say.

Returning to work was interesting, as raging hormones became a problem for the newlyweds to suppress. Their constant cooing over one another annoyed Victor even more than it had when they were dating, or even engaged – a feat that he never thought was possible. The employees of Caduceus who were married understood the phase which they were going through exactly, and looked on at them, fond of their own newlywed experiences. However, those that hadn't made it there yet just had all the more reason to make fun of them.

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"Mmm… Angie, try this, its delicious.." Derek muffled, his mouth full.

He held out a fresh strawberry to her as she smiled, before taking a big bite of it. The two of them giggled before they started to kiss, loudly interrupted by the new occupants in the break room.

"Oh GEEZ, would you two just _give it up _already! You're married – this isn't junior high!"

Tyler Chase had entered the building, more notably, the staff lounge, where Derek and Angie were all over each other, one month removed from their wedding.

"Hey!" Angie interrupted. "This isn't junior high – we are married, and in love, and it's a wonderful thing, I'll have you know…" she reprimanded jokingly.

Tyler rubbed his eyes.

"I know, Ang, I'm sorry – I didn't get much sleep last night, that's all… I'm cranky."

"Is everything okay?" she asked, barely able to get out that sentence before biting into another strawberry.

He shook his head, pouring himself a cup of much-needed coffee.

"No, everything's fine – it's just, Leslie's parents are in town and staying with us, which means I've been banished to the couch for the week… and for some reason, I ended up getting the side of the pullout with the rusty SPRING IN MY BACK!" he exclaimed, a hand shooting to the problem area, wincing.

"Oh!" Angie exclaimed, trying to swallow quickly. Derek looked over at her as she tried to do so without choking, before she spoke.

"We JUST got our new sectional delivered yesterday, and we have nothing to do with our old pull out… its yours!" she chirped, much to Tyler's relief.

"Oh, thank GOD.." he said, his trademark smile snapping back onto his face. "I'll come pick it up ton— OH, HO HO!! WAIT JUST A MINUTE THERE!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly.

Surprised by his sudden outburst, Derek and Angie exchanged confused glances, before turning back to him.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked.

"Oh nothing, just a little thing called "being a newlywed"" Tyler chuckled, even remembering to do air quotes with his fingers. "In light of the way you guys have been acting lately, I really want nothing to do with that couch – I don't want to know what's been done on the couch, or near the couch… or, really, even in the same ROOM as the couch!" he said, holding up his hands, signifying his unwillingness to hear any arguments about it.

"But, Tyler…" Derek started.

"Nope! Don't wanna hear it! Rather sleep with a rusty spring in my back!" he nearly yelled, walking from the room.

Angie laughed as he exited, before she nuzzled up next to Derek again.

"Come on, let's go finish our paperwork so we can go home!" she said happily, standing up and pulling him back to their office.

---------------------------------------------

Later that night, Derek and Angie were relaxing on their new couch, which was the most plush piece of furniture that both of them had ever sat on. Checking his watch, Derek pouted.

"Its almost ten, and we've got early shift tomorrow – we should probably get to bed.." he said.

Stretching, Angie stood up, nodding as she yawned. "You're right – I'm exhausted… but, ten, really? We don't go in until nine tomorrow" she reasoned, looking at him.

"Yeah, I said get to bed – I didn't say we'd be sleeping…" he grinned, as he scooped her off the ground, a shriek protruding from her mouth. Derek kissed her as he walked off to the bedroom, before throwing her on the bed playfully. Pouncing on top of her, the two of them had half of their clothes off in an instant, feverishly kissing one another before they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Derek groaned. "You've GOT to be kidding… Why do we tell people where we live?" he asked with an annoyed smile on his face, grabbing for his shirt.

With Angie in tow and their clothes visibly wrinkled, hair a mess, the pair walked towards the door, where Derek looked through the peep hole before he opened the door, confused.

"Dude, I know it's late…" Tyler started, interrupting himself as a big perverted grin swept across his face. "My, my, my… I wouldn't happen to be interrupting anything, would I, Mr. and Mrs. Stiles?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Goodnight, Tyler…" Derek growled as he tried to shut the door, unamused by Tyler, but Tyler put a hand in to keep that from happening.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'll let you two get back to, whatever.. I just came because that couch is killing me, I can't take it anymore!"

Arms crossed, Angie laughed from where she was standing in the living room, before Tyler saw her, and waved hello. She returned the wave before she walked over to their old couch, patting the soft fabric twice with a smirk on her face.

Derek laughed as he watched Tyler pull a bottle of half-full disinfectant they used on the hospital beds out from behind his back.

"Just, empty this bottle on it. I don't want to know…"

"…what happened on or around the couch, I got it…" Derek finished, laughing.

He pulled on his shoes and walked around to the back side of the couch as Tyler sprayed down the piece of furniture with said disinfectant, handing the empty bottle to Angie, who just shook her head and walked to the kitchen to throw it away. With a heave, Derek and Tyler had lifted the couch into the air and out the doorway, as Angie closed the door behind them. She sat on the new couch for a moment as she giggled at the dirty thoughts running through her head, before acting on them.

Chuckling at Tyler's insane fear of what they had done on their couch, Derek walked off of the elevator and towards his apartment, his giggles stopping as soon as he walked into the door. His mouth dropped open as he closed the door with his foot, almost unable to move.

"…you're, not… w-wearing, any clothes…" he stammered out before he smiled.

Angie nodded. "Ah, Captain Obvious – so nice to see you again…" she teased, laughing as she turned around and walked back towards the bedroom.

In a flash, Derek had locked the door and shut off the lights, and had caught up to Angie who he picked up again, tossing her onto the bed before he caught up to her in the clothes department. After kissing her feverishly a few times, he pulled back, a big smile on his face.

"I, love.. being married to you…" he said, a sweet but perverted tone in his voice.

In a swift move, Angie rolled over and pinned him underneath her, much to his surprise and enjoyment.

"I love being married to you too, Derek… but right now, we've got to make up for the time that Tyler wasted…" she said, a playfulness dancing across her eyes.

Derek laughed. "Yeah, Tyler – let's just hope for his sake, that he doesn't ever have to take our bed… I'm not sure he could handle it."

Angie lightly smacked him in minor disgust as she giggled profusely, before returning to her husband's arms.

Mere minutes later, if you would've asked either Derek or Angie anything about Tyler, chances are, they probably wouldn't've even remembered they knew a Tyler.

Ah, the wonders of being a newlywed…

* * *

Okay, yes, this was kind of a filler chapter before they start to hit the tumultuous parts of their marriage. What will I throw at them? EVILEVILEVIL! 

No, it won't be evil - it'll just, test their marriage, that's all. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter - and i hope it wasn't too sex-crazed for you all. Its Derek and Angie and they're married so its allowed - so, yeah. I think its cute :)

ANYWAY - see you soooooon!


	5. Anniversary

**Okay - Derek and Angie are back from newlywed land. (Kind of - they're a _little_ less horny than usual.. hehe) This chapter sets in motion a sequence of events which you will find out, as you read!**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Months later, Derek and Angie's honeymoon phase was still going, however, they had certainly toned it down a bit. It was just a few days until their first wedding anniversary, and the couple was playing mediator to their best couple friends, Leslie and Tyler. At their dinner table one day, Derek and Angie discussed both sides of the fight that had been brewing between the two, surprised to learn the other's point of view.

"So.." Derek started, swallowing. "Tyler tells me he's been sleeping on the couch an awful lot lately… he says he's finally gotten rid of the creepy feelings of knowing it was ours first."

"I know…" Angie said, chuckling. "Even at work, those two can't stop fighting with each other…"

"Maybe it's that time of the month or something?" he asked, taking a big bite of chicken.

Clink.

Angie set down her fork and crossed her arms, raising both eyebrows. "So, every time a woman gets mad about something, it's due to her being hormonal?"

Derek made sure that he chewed that bite of food as much as he possibly could, knowing that he had to be real careful here.

"N-No…" he started. "I don't know what it is, and neither does Tyler – he said that she just keeps yelling at him all the time, crying, and then not talking to him for awhile. I'm taking the words directly out of his mouth. He said to me, "either it's that time of the month, or she's pregnant, because I don't know where this is coming from."

Eyebrows still raised, Angie accepted his answer and picked up her glass of milk, taking a sip before she set it back down.

"Well – it's neither of those. She's pretty upset though, and he needs to do something about it quick."

"How is he supposed to do anything if everything he does, she flips out about?"

"Derek.." Angie asked. "Do you want to know the reason that Leslie's upset?"

He knew there was a reason.

"Yeah, I really do."

"Leslie is upset because she looks at us and how happy we are, and she's beginning to think that Tyler doesn't want to have a future with her, or else he would've already proposed."

Derek's eyes widened. "Oh. Wow…"

"Yeah… I feel so bad for her – they've been dating longer than us, heck… our one year wedding anniversary is in two days, and they're _still_ not even engaged. I would be frustrated too by this point if I was her…" she said, taking a bite of her salad.

"Well…" Derek started. "Would it interest you to know that I saw Leslie's engagement ring last week?"

Angie dropped her fork, not paying attention to the fact that it had fallen on the floor.

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Yeah – but with the way things are going, he's afraid that she's going to say no, or worse, break up with him because he didn't know what was wrong…"

"Ohhh…" she said. "So, he's been planning this for awhile?"

"Yeah. This means, Angie, that I know she's your best friend, you can't tell her anything. Just, try to get her to lighten up a little bit on him so that he stops freaking out."

"Wow… okay.." she said, smiling. "I can't believe this! How exciting!!! Now I know how excited they must've been when you told them about us!"

"Haha, yeah… except, Tyler figured it would be a good idea to buy a huge ring for all the time he left her waiting.. so, it is bigger than yours…" he said, forcing a smile.

Angie looked at her ring, smiling. "I think if this was bigger, then it would be really annoying – it gets caught on enough stuff at it is… besides that, it's beautiful and I love it because you picked it out."

She stood up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, clearing both of their plates from the table and washing them before putting them in the dishwasher.

"Like I said Ang – don't, tell her. Please, don't tell her. They didn't tell you when they knew, and I expect you to do the same."

"Okay, okay!" she said, holding up her hands. "I promise – I'll try to help him out by making her calm down a bit too."

Derek smiled, before he walked over to the couch, plopping down and watching TV.

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Two days later, Derek and Angie walked into their apartment from a very expensive anniversary dinner. Walking back into the bathroom, they conversed as Angie removed her jewelry while Derek removed his tie, shoes, and eventually his suit coat.

"You know…" she started, "I'm really glad that we decided not to do gifts this anniversary – it's been so nice to just spend time with you" she said, as she wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing him.

He smiled nervously as he bit his lip slightly. The smile wiped right off Angie's face as she looked at him, eyes widening.

"Derek, you didn't…" she said, releasing her hold on him.

"Ang, I'm… sorry! But, I couldn't help it – I wanted to get you something to show you how you've made this past year the best of my life." he said, looking at the ground

Angie immediately stopped being angry at him. She couldn't help it – he was just too cute for his own good. He stopped being nervous when he felt her pull his chin up, kissing him softly as she smiled.

"But, that's impossible! I've cleaned this apartment from top to bottom for the past week! How did I not find it!?"

Derek smiled, patting his pants pocket. "You forgot I have a desk at work…"

"Of course… the desk…" she muttered, slightly upset that she hadn't figured it out.

Derek pulled her over to their bed, sitting down on the edge and taking her hand. He kissed her once passionately before he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small box. Instantly, Angie started to giggle with happiness.

"Happy Anniversary sweetheart – I love you…" he said, grinning as he placed the box into her hands.

"I love you too, Derek…"

"…can I open it?" she asked eagerly, to which he nodded.

She turned her attention back to the box and snapped it open, a hand flying up to her mouth in surprise as she began to instantly tear up. Derek slipped an arm around her shoulders as she stared at it, watching as she brought up a finger to touch it gently.

It was a platinum necklace with a heart pendant hung on the chain. There were little diamonds embedded into the platinum on the top left and the bottom right - each of the small embeddings starting off as diamonds, and gradually fading color into pink sapphires; Angie's favorite color.

"Derek – it's, beautiful…" she said, taking it out of the box gently. Angie was lucky – her husband had impeccable taste in jewelry. Not only that, he actually GOT her jewelry.

"Here, let me.." he said softly, taking the necklace from her hands. He swept her hair away from her neck and fastened the small clasp, watching as she looked down at it and smiled, before kissing it again.

"I have to be the luckiest woman in the world…" she said, moving over and sitting in his lap, one of her arms around his shoulders. "But you should know…" she started.

Derek looked at her questioningly as she stood up.

"You're not the only one who can keep a surprise…" she said, grinning as she walked into the closet, emerging after a few seconds with a big box wrapped in metallic royal blue paper.

"I couldn't resist either… Happy Anniversary Derek."

Derek smiled at her as she placed the box in his lap.

"We really stink at the whole 'let's not give gifts thing', huh?" he asked, chuckling, to which she laughed as well.

Tearing off the blue paper, Derek's eyes lit up like a little kids. It was a new video game system, to which he immediately opened the box and pulled it out.

"Tyler was telling me about this – he said it was awesome, but neither of us have played it yet!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I heard the same – but the real reason I got it for you is because of this.." she said, walking back into the closet. Derek's eyes followed her as she came back into the room, another present in her hands, this time, a small one. He looked at her smiling face quizzically as he opened it, before he started to laugh like crazy.

"You've GOT to be kidding… a game, about… surgery?! This is SO awesome!" he said, jumping up to kiss her. "Thank you, Angie – this is, so, freakin cool.."

Within minutes, the two of them had returned to their living room and had set up the system, sitting down with the two controllers as the game played its introduction sequence.

"I can't believe you just, point it at the screen, and it does whatever you're doing…" he said, moving the tiny yellow dot around in circles.

"It says here.." she started, reading the manual. "That there's a co-op mode, where one player is the doctor, and the other is the assistant…" she trailed off as Derek looked at her.

"You're so being my assistant…" she said, laughing.

"Joke's on you, I'm going to be a damn good assistant…" he replied.

"Why don't you try a practice run – I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick.."

Derek nodded and started the game, performing surgery on a man who had glass embedded in his arm and torso. Angie had managed to come back into the room the second that Derek dropped a piece of glass back into the patient's body, causing vitals to crash and his assistant to get very angry with him. She laughed hysterically as he sutured the wounds and got several "bad's"… whatever that meant, before he finally completed the operation.

"Rookie Doctor?! What the hell?!" he said, to which Angie nearly fell out of her seat laughing.

The two of them played the game for a little while before Angie got tired and went back into the bedroom. When Derek didn't follow her after twenty minutes, she figured that she could use her talents of attraction to get him to come back with her. She slipped on one of her bachelorette party presents, and walked out into the doorway to their bedroom, clearing her throat loudly as she raised an eyebrow at him. Derek glanced over quickly and did a double take, taking his eyes off of the screen loud enough to have one of the characters yell "What are you DOING!?" at him. He quickly turned off the system and charged towards her as she squealed, running away from him and back into their room, where their anniversary celebration started all over again.

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Curled up with one another, Dr. and Mrs. Stiles were fast asleep, very worn out from the preceding chain of events. The gentle breeze blowing in through the window, the couple's breathing was perfectly in sync, Derek's head resting right behind Angie's, his hot breath trickling on her neck. The two were perfectly content, that is, until they were interrupted.

_3:15 a.m._

Derek and Angie's unconsciousness was interrupted by the ringing of the home telephone on Derek's nightstand. It rang once before the two of them moved, groaning and mumbling when it completed its second ring. Derek flipped onto his back and Angie rolled away from him, neither answering the phone quite yet.

"Derrrrekkk..." Angie groaned. "What the heck? Its friggin 3:15 in the _morning_!" She said, flopping her arm over and hitting him in the stomach, which knocked the wind out of him.

The third ring completed.

"OW. Yeah Angie, because _I'm_ the one that's calling us right now.." he snapped, rubbing his stomach.

Fourth ring.

"Well, _answer it then_…" she snapped back, burying her face in her pillow.

Rolling over, Derek lifted the cordless phone out of its cradle.

"Mmm… h-hello?" he asked groggily, rolling over onto his back again.

Angie listened from where she was lying, eyes still closed.

"Well – yeah, its 3:15 in the morning… but that's okay – is something wrong?"

Silence bit the air as Derek listened to the person on the other line, before he sat up quickly.

"Oh wow… ischemic or hemorrhagic?"

Angie's eyes shot open and she sat up as well. Those were two of the different types of strokes. She was extremely worried to figure out who they were talking about, but was also slightly impressed that Derek was so sharp at three in the morning.

"Oh my gosh, that's not a problem at all… yeah, I'm sure. Okay, we'll see you soon. Bye."

Derek hung up the phone and dropped it onto the bed between his legs, rubbing at his face a little bit before he put on his glasses and rolled out of bed.

"Derek… what's, going on?" Angie asked nervously.

"Cybil's dad had a bad stroke…" he started, pulling on some shorts. "Her and Greg need to fly out to Detroit immediately to go see him, and I told them that we would watch Max while they're gone."

"Oh no… was it bad?" she asked rolling out of bed and pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top.

"I guess so – he's holding up okay, but they said that it was an Intraparenchymal hemorrhage…"

"That's certainly rare…" she said, to which Derek nodded.

They sat back on the bed, waiting for Greg and Cybil to come by.

"Angie, what are we going to do with a three year old for two days?" Derek asked, slightly whining.

"We're going to take care of him, Derek – the hospital has a day-care so I'll check up on him while we're at work, and then we'll come home and watch him till he goes to bed. It's not that hard…"

"But, I don't know anything about kids – I'm never around them…"

She placed a hand on his back and rubbed it soothingly. "It's okay, Derek – I have a lot of cousins, so I'm used to kids… we'll be fine, I promise… Besides, Greg and Cybil will leave us his daily routine so everything will be okay."

Just then, a knock was heard at the door. The two got up and answered it to find Greg with a bundle of children's things in his hands, and Cybil clutching her son, still crying. Derek helped them inside, grabbing some of the things from Greg as Angie gave Cybil a big hug, rubbing her back and expressing her condolences.

"Hey Derek – I cannot thank you enough for this… sorry we woke you guys up.."

"Dr. Kasal – don't even worry about it, we're happy to help…"

"Okay – but how many times have I told you to cut that Dr. Kasal shit out?" he asked, chuckling slightly before he motioned towards some of the things on the ground. "Come on, I'll show you how all this stuff works."

While Greg and Derek were setting up the pack-and-play in the master bedroom, Cybil was going over a list of things with Angie in between sobs. Within minutes, Greg and Derek had turned their apartment into a baby zone, clothes, a bed, toys, and other necessities scattered around everywhere, not to mention a car-seat that was situated by the front door. Max was amazingly still sleeping in his mother's arms, and she kissed him repeatedly, trying to keep her composure as she explained the last of the details to Angie, before handing the young boy off to her.

"Derek, you have both of our cell numbers – please don't hesitate to call if something happens… we'll be in and out of the hospital and will keep checking our voicemail, so leave us one and we'll call you back asap."

"Angie, my friend Sam works in the daycare at Caduceus. I already called her and told her what was going on, so she'll take care of Max during the day… he doesn't know her that well though, so just remember to check every once in awhile? I gave her your cell and office numbers just in case…"

Just then, Max woke up.

"Daddy? Mommy?" he asked, rubbing at his eyes, to which Greg mouthed "oh no.." to Cybil.

Angie gave the boy back to his mother, and watched as her and Greg talked to him.

"Sweetie – Mommy and Daddy have to go and see grandpa, so you're going to stay with Uncle Derek and Aunt Angie for a little bit, okay?"

"Okay mommy… you be back soon?" he asked, looking at his parents who tried to hide their nervous faces with smiles.

"We'll be back real soon buddy… be a good boy while we're gone, okay? We love you…"

"I love you too daddy!" he chirped, giving Greg and then Cybil a kiss. Derek watched as they reluctantly handed the boy back to his wife, Cybil trying to choke back tears.

"Okay sweetie, remember – be good. Mommy and Daddy will call you tomorrow. Have fun!" Greg said, before turning to Derek

"Thank you, so much you two… looks like we owe you again.."

"Not a problem.." Angie whispered as Max stirred on her shoulder.

"Have a safe trip.." Derek added as they walked out the door.

The four said their goodbyes and Derek closed and locked the door behind them, turning back to his wife who was gently rubbing Max's back. Derek quickly had a flash to the future as he watched her cradle the boy, smiling warmly at how motherly she looked with a child that wasn't even theirs.

"Uncle Derek?" Max asked, face still squished into Angie's shoulder.

Derek walked around Angie's side to see his face. "What's up buddy?" he asked, smiling.

"We go to bed now?" he asked, eyes red from tiredness.

"What a miracle child…" Angie whispered, to which Derek chuckled.

"Yes Max – let's go to sleep…"

Max picked his head off of Angie's shoulder and held his arms out towards Derek, who looked at Angie quizzically before she nodded in reassurance. He lifted Max from her hip and braced both arms underneath his bottom, as the boy laid his head on Derek's shoulder. He instantly sent Angie a look as if to say "I'm melting, this is so cute…" and she giggled, before motioning to the bedroom.

"I sleep with you, Uncle Derek?" he asked, face still planted in Derek's shoulder as they walked.

Derek looked at Angie again for an answer.

"Cybil said it would be fine – just to put him between us so he doesn't roll off." she whispered.

"Okay Max, you can sleep with us."

Derek smiled as Max wrapped his arms around his neck and squeezed with all his might as the three of them walked into the bedroom, turning off all the lights in the apartment. Angie situated the pillows on the bed and pulled back the covers as Derek laid Max down in the middle, before both of them climbed into bed with him and tucked him in. The three lay in silence for a minute before Max's hazel eyes popped open sleepily, rolling over to give both Derek and Angie kisses on their cheeks before laying back down.

"Goodnight Uncle Derek…goodnight Aunt Angie…" he trailed off, obviously exhausted.

"Goodnight Max" they replied in unison, smiling at one another as they watched him fall asleep. After his breathing deepened, Angie looked up at Derek, a sleepy smile on her face.

"What, a little angel…" she said, brushing the boy's dark hair away from his forehead.

Derek returned the smile, watching him taking small, deep breaths in and out, his chest moving underneath his pj's, which had fire trucks on them.

"I know – I don't even believe what a handful Greg says he is all the time…" Derek replied, chuckling softly.

"Yeah, you know, a few days, three years – that's really the same amount of time to spend with the kid.." Angie joked as Derek scoffed.

She leaned over Max and kissed Derek good night, thanking him for the gorgeous necklace again before they both drifted off to sleep, turned in towards Max.

Little did they know, that would be one of the only moments of peace and quiet they would experience with him.

* * *

**Aww, poor Cybil's dad. I really for once don't have anything to add to this story. You'll see what evil things I do to the two of them soon. ANGST.**

**See you soon! Please review!**


	6. In Sickness, and in Health

**I am trying to juggle a lot of writing projects right now - I've got a list a mile long. So, I figured before I started to tackle that stack of stuff, that I would whip up another chapter here because I'm not going to be back to this story for probably a couple days, if not a week. So, I hope this tides you over :)**

* * *

"Not much longer, really.. not, much longer…" Derek reassured himself as he was driving to work.

Angie giggled at Derek's scowling. He had been a mess for the past two days – Cybil and Greg were still in Detroit, which meant he and his wife were still caregivers for Max. They had stayed an extra day with Cybil's dad due to other family members that couldn't make it there in time, leaving their rambunctious three year old with the newlyweds .

Speaking of Max, the toddler was strapped safely into his car seat as Derek drove the three of them to Caduceus, singing an adorable song about a bumblebee that neither of them had ever heard before.

..Well, neither of them had heard it before he came to stay. It was probably his fiftieth time through the song since his parents had left, leaving Derek and Angie to constantly find themselves singing it during the day.

Stuck in mild traffic, Derek allowed his mind to play through the past two days as he rubbed his face tiredly. Baths, story times, songs and games, temper tantrums, naps, food fights, and shriller screams than his wife could produce were the background music of his life since Max had come to stay. While Derek loved playing with the boy, reading him stories, and having him crawl into his lap and fall asleep, he had no idea how Cybil and Greg managed to keep up with him. Angie on the other hand, was soaking up every moment of it, taking Max in the other room to play so that Derek could get some peace and quiet after a day where he had performed four surgeries.

Pulling into the parking garage at the hospital, Derek got out of the car and opened the door to the backseat, finding that Max had sung himself to sleep. His frustrations faded away as he looked as Max's chubby cheeks, which were smushed into his shoulder as he took deep breaths, his dark hair falling in his face with every exhalation. As Angie grabbed his bag of necessities out of the trunk, she watched as Derek gently unbuckled the restraints, before quietly lifting Max underneath the door frame and then up and into his arms, locking the doors before he closed his and Max's. Smiling, Angie held out a hand to him and he accepted it, the two of them walking in the building together, sleeping child and supplies in hand. They walked to the third floor and dropped Max off at the nursery, leaving him still fast asleep as they walked out.

Derek sighed loudly, grasping his head tightly with both of his hands.

"Coffee… please, I need, coffee…" he whined, turning slightly angry when he saw Angie laughing at him.

"You're so overdramatic – you're used to not sleeping all the time, I don't understand why you're complaining now.."

"All those other times I forfeited sleep it was for sex – excuse me if I'm not so enthused this time.." he muttered, which earned him a slap in the arm.

The two walked into the break room where Derek made a bee-line for the coffee pot, grabbing two mugs as he poured the sweet caffeinated liquid for him and Angie. Plopping down next to her on the couch, he handed her one of the mugs as he held his close to his face, eyes shut as he breathed in the smell, taking small happy sips.

"You, are pathetic…" Angie snickered, taking a sip of her coffee.

Derek's eyes remained shut. "This is a beautiful thing, Angie… don't ruin it.."

She giggled at him some more before Tyler walked into the break room, stopping when he saw the two.

"So – how's mom and dad doing?"

No sooner did the words exit his mouth than Derek shot a look of death his way, eyes still bloodshot from being up and down with Max all night.

"Whoa there, sorry I asked…" he said, walking over to the fridge where he pulled out a bottle of water.

"Everything's fine, Tyler – Max was just not sleeping well last night.." Angie replied, without the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice… unlike Derek.

The three of them giggled, before Derek's cell phone rang, interrupting them.

"This is Stiles…" he answered, eyes still closed.

"Seriously? Okay, yeah, uh-huh, see you soon… bye.."

Derek flipped his phone shut, groaning before he stood up.

"What's wrong?" Angie asked, her eyes watching as he scratched the side of his head sleepily.

"Nothing, Max woke up and he's screaming for us apparently, so we have to go and calm him down…" he said, whining still.

"Well if you're going to whine about it some more…" Angie said, rising to her feet. "I'll go get him then…"

She passed her coffee cup to her husband and walked out the door in a huff.

"Troubles in paradise?" Tyler asked, laughing when Derek shot him another look, before walking out the door to his office.

"And I wonder why I'm always the last one to leave…" Tyler muttered to himself, before walking out of the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

For the rest of the day, Derek and Angie barely spoke to each other. He couldn't tell if she was mad because he was whining so much, or if she was really as tired as he was.

Sitting on the couch with one another later, the duo worked through a stack of paperwork, watching the TV in their office in silence. Derek had noticed that Angie's breaths had become more and more rapid since they had been working, and when he looked over at her, he noticed why.

"Angie! Are you feeling alright?" he exclaimed, a hand shooting to her forehead.

Face completely flushed, Angie didn't even pick her eyes up off of her paperwork before she muttered, "I'm fine.." removing his hand from her face.

"Are you sure? You're burning up… maybe you should go home…" he suggested, voice thick with concern.

"And leave you here to take care of the paperwork and of Max? Thank you for worrying about me, but I'm fine – I'm just a little warm, that's all…"

A total lie. Angie was shaking from the inside out – her face was flushed, but her body was freezing… she hated to admit it, but she felt absolutely awful, and she didn't know where it had come from. She couldn't afford to be sick now – Derek could take care of her, but there was no way he would be able to watch after her **and** a child.

Eyes still fixed on her, Derek sighed at his stubborn wife, before he reluctantly turned his eyes back towards the clock.

"It looks like you don't have a choice – it's time for us to leave anyway…" he said, tossing his stack of paperwork down on his desk and turning off the TV. Angie scowled at him before following suit, storming past him and out the door.

"_I know she gets upset when she gets sick, but geez…"_ Derek thought to himself, preparing himself for what would be a very long night.

----------------------------------------------------------

The pair barely spoke to one another on the drive home, besides the one set of giggles he got out of Angie when he unknowingly started to sing the bumblebee song, much to Max's enjoyment. He kicked himself mentally as the boy began to sing the song again, heaving a sigh of relief as he pulled into the parking lot of their apartment complex. The three of them got out, gathered all their things, and walked inside.

In a rare move, Derek cooked dinner for them – spaghetti, the only thing he knew how to make. After they had finished eating, he grabbed a washcloth from the sink and wiped Max's face clean, hearing Angie pick her keys up off of the front table, and walk back over to the kitchen.

"I'm going to the store…" she said coldly, her face still bright red, eyes tired. "Do you need anything?"

Derek looked at her concerned as he unbuckled Max from his booster seat and set him on the ground, the boy running off to go play with his toys.

"No, I don't need anything – are you sure you don't want me to go so you can stay and relax? I'll take Max with me..?" he asked.

"Thanks Derek, but no.. I just need to get some fresh air and pick up a few things… I'll be fine.. Be back soon.."

Not even leaving it up for discussion, Angie closed the door behind her as Derek stood in the kitchen, slightly confused, but knowing that this was how his wife acted when she wasn't feeling well. So instead of worrying about it, he let it go, and walked over into the living room to play some games with Max.

An hour later, Angie finally returned with a big bag in her hands, stunned to find Max bathed and ready for bed, sitting on the couch with Derek, reading some stories.

"Hi Aunt Angie!" Max chirped, standing up on the couch.

"Butt on the couch Max…" Derek warned gently. Max did as he was told, but kept his head craned back towards the kitchen, waving at Angie who smiled and said hi back to him. Derek turned around as well, watching as Angie pulled out a box of Tylenol PM, some bottles of water and a quart of apple juice, and a giant chocolate cake – which, to his surprise, she hadn't touched yet. Turning his attention back to the book, Derek finished up the last few pages before he closed it.

"Okay buddy – go give Aunt Angie a hug – its time for bed…"

While she wouldn't admit it to him just yet, Angie was impressed. Not only did he cook dinner and feed Max, he cleaned him up, bathed him, changed him, and got him ready for bed - all without her help. She smiled to herself before that smile twisted into a frown, remembering that she wasn't feeling well.

The boy slid off the couch and ran over to the kitchen where Angie scooped him up and kissed him on the cheek, smiling before she set him back down. Derek stood and walked him over into the bedroom where he tucked him into his little travel bed, before closing the door behind him.

He found Angie in the kitchen trying to take her temperature without him noticing, but was too late – as she examined the digital screen he poked his head through the doorway as she groaned. Looking at him sadly, she held out the thermometer, which read "101.5" before she washed it off and put it away.

"Angie…" he said, pacing towards her.

"No…" she grumbled, backing up. "Don't come near me – I don't want to get you sick too…"

He still walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her gently as she rested her head on his chest.

"Why of all times, did I have to get sick now?" she asked, muffled in his chest.

"I don't know, Angie – but I'm here to take care of you, okay?"

She nodded as she started to cry a bit, making Derek hug her tighter.

"Come on, let's go get dressed and get to bed…"

As soon as their heads hit the pillow, they were both out – parenting was exhausting.

-----------------------------------------------------

Things didn't get any better for Angie as the days went by. Due to complications with Cybil's family, her and Greg had to stay longer in Detroit, leaving Derek not only with a sick wife, but one of the most energetic children he had ever met. Angie still came to work despite his protests, growing more and more irate by the day. Although he felt bad for her, the constant snapping and moodswings were getting too much for him to handle. They had been fighting like crazy over the past few days – due to the fact that Angie could never stop yelling at him, like one particular afternoon in their office.

Derek watched out of the corner of his eye as Angie set down her pen, looking around her desk for something unknown.

"Derek?" she finally asked, voice rigid.

"Hmm?"

"What did you do with my stapler?"

He looked up to see her head turned over her shoulder, glowering at him. Derek froze momentarily before he turned back to his paperwork - she had no reason to be mad at him.

"I didn't touch your stapler, Angie – I have my own right here…" he said, tapping it.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't mean you didn't touch it… where's my _stapler_?" she snapped, unamused at him – though he honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

Rising from his desk, he walked towards her as she turned her back to him, huffing sharply.

"Typical Derek – coming over here to try to prove me wrong… I told you, its not here…"

He ignored that comment and fought back the urge to reply, knowing it would do more harm than good. Stepping over to her desk, he picked up a piece of her paperwork and pulled the stapler out from underneath it, setting it down in front of her as he raised his eyebrows, his brown eyes silently asking for an apology that he knew he wasn't going to get.

Angie flipped a chunk of hair out of her flushed face as she slumped back into her chair, heaving a big sigh before turning to him.

"You know, sometimes – I think you like to make me look stupid…" she grumbled, shuffling her papers around angrily before she slammed a staple into them.

"God, Angie – would you stop snapping at me like you're on your _friggin period_!" he retorted loudly, casting a glance over to her. As soon as he said it, he knew he was in big, big trouble.

Instead of chewing him out, he was surprised to see her immediately burst into tears, as she grabbed her purse and walked to the closet to slip on her jacket.

"Angie, wait… I didn't mean…"

_Slam._

The argument was over, Derek was now staring at a closed door.

Abandoning him, Max, and her stack of paperwork, Angie walked to Sidney's office where she announced that she was sick and leaving for the day, much to his surprise as well – she never admitted that she was sick, but he let her go nonetheless.

As she walked out of Caduceus's automatic doors, she hailed a taxi and gave him directions to her home, fighting back tears as she tried calming herself down from hers and Derek's altercation. Her whole body felt so weak, so, shaky – and on top of all that, now she had a husband who was being a complete jerk. A pain started to develop in her lower abdomen, but she ignored it – she hadn't eaten all day, and tended to get really bad stomachaches when she skipped meals.

Paying the cab driver, Angie entered their apartment complex where she rode the elevator up to hers and Derek's apartment, before she entered it, throwing her things down onto the kitchen table. The pain in her stomach had now crept into her lower chest and radiated through her entire torso, down to her thighs and across her lower back. It got worse with every step she took before it was completely unbearable, causing her to burst into tears again as she collapsed onto the living room floor, unable to move. Angie curled herself up into the fetal position as she rocked herself slowly on the floor, trying desperately to make the pain go away, but it persisted, and grew worse with every breath. Eventually, she calmed herself and the pain subsided just a bit – but she stayed put, eventually succumbing to her exhaustion on her living room floor.

Hours later, Angie's green eyes blinked open twice to see that the colors of dusk had been cast over the walls of her apartment – she had been asleep for a long time.

As she gently rolled to her side, the familiar pain shot through her abdomen and lower back, causing her to wince and stifle a small cry in pain. Shakily, she rose to her feet with the aide of the couch, as she looked at the time.

6:43.

Derek's shift at work had ended almost fifteen minutes ago, meaning him and Max would be home any minute.

Determined not to let him see her in her current state, she walked back into their bedroom and flopped into bed, clutching at her stomach, which felt as though it was being stabbed repeatedly. Whimpering at the unimaginable pain present, she shut herself up as she heard a key being turned in the lock, using all her strength to turn her back away from the door as she quickly feigned sleep. She heard Derek turn on the light outside and tell Max to play with his toys for a bit, before hearing her husband's approaching footsteps towards their bedroom.

She kept up her façade of fake sleep as she felt his footsteps clunk softly against the wooden floor, stopping just next to her. He looked at her momentarily, before leaning in towards her slightly and whispering the words, "I'm so sorry…", kissing her on the forehead, and removing himself from the room to let her rest. After what sounded like a hectic night with Max, Derek put the boy to bed and walked into their bedroom, where he pulled on his pajamas and crawled into bed with his wife. Her heart began to race as she anticipated his next move - he had still not laid down, and she could feel his eyes on her. Hoping that he would leave her to sleep, she breathed a small sigh of relief as she got her wish, feeling him lie down and fall asleep.

Angie was still sleeping when Derek woke up, mostly because her pains had kept her awake most of the night. Neither of them had said a word to each other since the stapler incident, and since he didn't want to wake her up when he knew she was sick, he got up early in the morning and fed Max breakfast, before turning some cartoons on for him to watch as Derek got ready for work.

When Derek walked back into his bedroom, he was surprised to see Angie sitting up in bed, her eyes casting an irritated but calm stare at him. He hung his head as soon as he saw her, before he walked over to her side of the bed and sat down at the edge, placing a hand on her covered feet. Angie pulled them out from his grasp and planted them on the floor, ignoring the retched pain in her stomach as she crossed her arms, and stared down at him.

"I'm going to give you this opportunity to apologize for what happened yesterday…" she stated coldly, her eyes locked with his.

Derek sighed and paused for a moment, before looking up at her. "Of course I'll apologize for the period comment – I was way out of line, and I'm so, so sorry Angie… I don't want to put any more pressure on you while you're sick, and I'm sorry…"

"Thank you Derek.." she said, unfolding her arms.

"…but, don't you think that you owe me an apology too? You know, for the way you acted yesterday?" he asked looking up at her again.

This made Angie livid. Being sick altered her ability to think about situations rationally, especially ones where she would have to admit that she was wrong about something.

"I owe _you_ an apology, Derek?" she said, crossing her arms again.

As long as he was already in trouble, Derek figured he would keep going – it couldn't hurt… right?

"Yes, I do – I understand you're sick, but its not my fault, and all you've been doing is taking _everything_ out on me, Ang… you're not being fair.."

"_I'm_ not being fair?" she hissed, pointing at herself. "**_I'm_** not being fair?!"

…wrong.

He motioned for her to keep her voice down, which angered her even further.

"Derek, since we've had Max with us, all you've DONE, is whine, and whine, and whine, and whine about _everything_ that had to be done! You've been so irresponsible lately – I pick up your dirty laundry everywhere I go, you haven't been helping me do ANYTHING around the house except for the past day when I was sick! And then on TOP of that, you have the nerve to make a comment about my time of the month, and then you sit here and tell me that _I_ owe _YOU_ an apology?! You've gotta be out of your damn mi-"

Now glowering back at her, Derek watched as Angie cut herself off, her eyes widening as she looked around the room, breathing heavily, a hand on her chest.

"_..no, this can't be happening, not now, Angie.. not now!"_

The pain was coming back in full force, bringing the argument to an abrupt end, shooting through her stomach and up through her chest and back, causing her to instantly start to cry again. Angie tightly gripped her stomach as she hunched over, whimpering as round after round of thunderous pain shot through her insides. Her green eyes shot wide open as she looked at Derek, who began to panic along with her, neither of them knowing what was going on. A hand flew up and over her mouth as she bolted for the bathroom, Derek right on her heels, before she collapsed on the floor in front of the toilet, pulling it open. Just in the nick of time, Derek scooped her hair out of her face and pulled it behind her head as she coughed and her whole body tensed, propelling vomit into the porcelain bowl. Recoiling at the sight of bile and chocolate cake, the only things Angie had eaten recently, Derek sat down next to her and soothingly rubbed her back as she continued to puke out the contents of her stomach, crying in between gags. Finally she was through, and collapsed into his arms, sobbing. This was the point that Angie knew something was definitely wrong – she _never_ threw up. Hell, in the years she had been with Derek, he had only seen her throw up twice – and both times, it was due to over-drinking.

"Honey – what's going _on_?" he asked, still slightly panicked.

"…I'm so sick, Derek.. so, sick…" she sobbed, still curled up against him. She refused to tell him about the pains for fear that he would freak out and make her go to the hospital to get checked out, so she downplayed it – if need be, she would tell him, later. He rocked her gently for awhile before she calmed down, allowing Derek to lift her up and into his arms, and walk her back over to their bed. He grabbed a trash can, a glass of water, and a cold washcloth for her before she fell back asleep, allowing him to jump in the shower quickly before calling Sidney to let him know what was up.

----------------

"Will you call me if you need me please? I'll be in our office all day – nothing's scheduled…"

"I will…" she said groggily, still half-asleep. "Where's Max?"

"Just, relax – I've got Max all ready to go and everything will be fine… I'm worried about you, but I still have to go to work – so, call me… for anything, just call me.."

"Mmhmm… goodbye Derek, have a great day…" she mumbled.

He kissed her on the forehead and towards the doorway, before the sound of her voice stopped him.

"…Honey?" she asked quietly, removing the washcloth from her face.

"Yes, Angie?"

"…I'm sorry… I'm, so, sorry…" she said, beginning to cry again.

He walked back over to her side of the bed and pulled her into a big embrace, before apologizing again to her, kissing her, and leaving for work.

As the door to their apartment shut, Angie breathed a small sigh of relief. Throwing up had made the pain recede, though not much at all – it still hurt a lot. But more importantly, she was able to start to patch things up with Derek – they had some things to hash out, but they would get through it just fine.

Slipping off to sleep again, Angie awoke in the early afternoon to the house phone ringing. Pain shot through her again as she rolled over to answer it, wincing as she was able to stammer out, "H-Hello?"

"_Hey sweetheart – how are you feeling?"_

Angie smiled a painful smile. "I'm, okay Derek… how's work?"

"_That's what I called to tell you – Greg and Cybil are back – she stopped by to get Max before both of them went to work at Hope for the day… so, I'll be able to give you my undivided attention when I get home.." _ he said, chuckling. _"..it's so weird not having you here, though… I miss you.."_

"I miss you too, Derek – come home soon, okay?"

"_I will Angie – go get some more rest… I'll see you real soon.. I love you.."_

"I love you too… Bye.."

Angie had just enough strength to reach and place the phone in the cradle, before she felt that all too familiar feeling rising up again.

"_There's nothing left to throw up!"_ she exclaimed to herself, but she was wrong. Leaning over and above the trash can Derek had left for her, she gagged a number of times as nothing came out – she really was out of stomach fluid, but that wasn't going to stop her body from causing her to choke and gag repeatedly. When the dry-heaves had finally resided, she rolled back over into bed, sobbing as that pain shot through her body again. In the only thing she could think to do, Angie rolled over towards the phone again and picked it up, listening as it rang on the other side.

"Come on, pick up… pick up…" she groaned to herself.

On the fourth ring, she got her wish.

"_Greg Kasal."_

"Greg, it's Angie…"

Greg Kasal spun around in his chair at work, smiling.

"Oh, Angie – Derek told us about how sick you are and we're sorry to hear it – looks like we got back just in time to take the little munchkin off your hands, huh?" he said, chuckling.

"_Hah, yeah – about me being sick… I need to call in a favor, Greg.."_

He listened intently as Angie described her current situation.

"Okay, I understand the situation, but how does this involve me?"

He paused, resting a hand on his chin nervously as she spoke, before he replied.

"Anything, Angie – I'll grab the equipment and I'll be on my way…"

Greg hung up the phone and immediately rose from his desk, walking out the door.

"Sarah, hold all my calls – I need to step out for a bit…"

Walking back into a vacant room, Greg opened up a duffel bag from his office and tossed in equipment to draw blood, before he turned to the back of the room and using a special key, opened up a drawer which he never thought he would have to open again.

As he stuffed the Chiron Wavelength Reader into the duffel bag and closed it, Greg said a small prayer that this wasn't what he feared it was… but it was better to be safe than sorry.

--------------------------

After thanking Greg for his help and swearing him to secrecy, he left Derek and Angie's apartment, on his way back to Hope to do a quick spread of the blood sample and decipher the results of the Chiron test.

Angie waited nervously as she drank her water and ate a few saltine crackers. She paced back and forth around the apartment, feeling much better than she had before. Arms crossed, one of her fingers rested on the small bandage on her left arm where Greg had taken blood, removing it a she walked towards the bathroom. After taking a small shower and getting dressed, Angie decided to go for a quick car ride to see how the tests were progressing at Hope, so that Greg didn't have to come all the way out again.

Walking down the familiar white halls, Angie grew more and more nervous with each step, especially when the familiar pain began to fester in her abdomen again. This time instead of bringing her to her knees, the pain stayed nearly dormant, a dull throb in her lower stomach the only thing present.

Stepping off the elevator with the employees of Hope, Angie walked down the hallway, fiddling with her fingers, as she stopped in front of Greg's office, which was open. She knocked on the wooden door twice as his gaze shot over towards her, his expression completely serious.

"Angie, you shouldn't be out of bed – you know that I was going to come and give you the results, right?"

She nodded "I know, I just – got restless, and, I'm feeling a bit better right now and needed some fresh air, so, here I am!" Angie had a habit of rambling on and on when she was nervous.

Greg walked over and closed the door behind her, helping her over to one of the chairs opposite the desk from his own. He slowly sat down in his chair as he sighed, studying the paperwork in his hands before he clasped them together and looked up at her, their green eyes locked in a stalemate.

"Before I show you what's in these results…" he started, his tone overwhelmingly stern. "I need you to promise me that you are going to stay calm, and know that everything is going to be alright… Can you promise me that?"

Now Angie was beside herself. They wouldn't be needing to have this talk if nothing was wrong – her instincts before were dead on, and she knew it…

Angie swallowed hard. "I promise."

His eyes still locked with hers, Greg spun around the paper in front of him and pushed it towards her. With a shaky hand, she reached out and picked it up, scanning it over before her eyes settled on the group of words under the heading "Results".

Her mouth dropped open as she read it over and over again, as tears welled in her eyes.

"No…"

It was at that point, Angie actually _wished_ that instead of the results she was reading, she was reading a positive chiral reaction.

* * *

**I remember the first time my boyfriend said to me, "What, are you on your period or something?!" We didn't talk for probably about 4 or 5 days... haha.**

**Uh oh - Angie's real sick... she's actually WISHING I gave her GUILT! Oh the irony!  
**

**SORRY, not this time!**

**Anyway - I'm going to work on a few other projects, and then I'll be back to continue on. See you then!  
**


	7. Secret

**Gather round children! (waits patiently until you gather)**

**I have not too much to say here, because after how I left the last chapter, I think it's best that I don't say anything so you can find out what's going on for yourselves. I don't wish to ruin it for you. (Aww, I'm so nice, huh?)**

**PS: If any of you have not been following Days of Damnation by author In The Beginning, the story just took some huge freaking turns - I suggest you check it out, you'll love it!**

**OK. More of that, later. Chapter, NOW!**

**Trauma Center doesn't belong to me, blah blah blah.**

**...but Max does! IN YOUR FACE ATLUS.**

* * *

It was at that point, Angie actually _wished_ that instead of the results she was reading, she was reading a positive chiral reaction. 

"_..we know how to cure GUILT.. there's no cure for this!"_

As she calmed herself down just a bit, she realized how ridiculous she sounded for wishing for GUILT – it was a first reaction, but still stupid.

"No… no…" she repeated softly, shaking her head before she started to sob uncontrollably. Greg walked around his desk quickly and sat in the chair next to her, leaning forward and hugging her tightly as she cried.

"How could this happen?!" she suddenly exclaimed, standing up. She was walking back and forth quickly, the paper clutched in her hand as she rambled on nonsensically, trying desperately to think of answers that neither of them had.

"Shh, Angie – you need to calm down…"

"Calm down?! I CAN'T _CALM DOWN_!" she shrieked, as she started to mildly hyperventilate, holding her face with her hands, her left still gripping the paper.

Greg sat her down in the chair firmly as he rested his hands on her shoulders and locked eyes with her again, taking deep breaths to show her how to relax. Still crying, she gave in and eventually calmed herself, before he hugged her again.

"I know, Angie… I know… But, it could be worse.."

She pulled out of his grasp and shot a look at him.

He flinched. "I'm sorry – I'll shut up.. Just know, that we're all here for you… everything is going to work out fine, you're going to get through this…"

Angie was barely even listening to him anymore – all she could think about was how she was possibly going to tell Derek… he loved her so much, and she had lied to him about her sickness… Now, not only was she going to have to apologize for lying, she was going to have to break the bad news to him.

"I know this is going to be hard, Angie – but you have to tell Derek…" Greg said, his face grim.

Angie nodded, her body still shaking from small sobs. "I-I know, G-Greg… it's just – he's g-going to be.. devastated…!"

Greg looked at her sympathetically as he gently rubbed her back, out of words to say.

"I think it's a good idea that you go home and get some rest. I'll let you tell Derek when you feel the time is right – but whether or not you tell him, I'll need to see you back here in a few days to start treatment, okay?"

She nodded as a fresh new set of tears fell down her cheeks, falling off of her face and onto the paper she clutched so tightly in her hands. Gently, she folded it in eighths, before stuffing it into her back pocket. Angie stood up and gave Greg one last hug, thanking him for his support, before she turned and walked from his office.

As she disappeared from his sight, Greg walked around his desk and sat down, holding his head in his hands as he took a deep breath. Exhaling sharply, he reluctantly opened his eyes and grabbed a pen from the front pocket of his white coat, opening Angie's file. With a sympathetic heart, he scratched in her diagnosis, signed the bottom, and closed the file, placing it in his "Current Patients" box.

--------------------------------------------------------

"_rrrinnnnggg... rrrinnnnggg..."_

The telephone at the Stiles residence was ringing off the hook, but nobody was there to answer it.

On the other line, Derek tapped his foot impatiently, growing nervous as on the fifth ring, the answering machine picked up again, instead of his wife. He flipped his small black phone shut, before exhaling, casting his gaze out of the window of the break room.

"_...where could she be?"_

Silence filled the air before Derek flipped open his phone again, this time dialing Angie's cell.

"Hi, this is Angie Stiles – Sorry I missed your ca---"

Click.

"_Damnit, it's not turned on.."_

Trying not to worry himself too much, Derek decided to get himself a bottle of water and a snack before he tried again – she did have the flu, after all… she was probably still exhausted..

Finishing off an apple and a small bottle of Aquafina water, Derek reached for his phone as he dialed home again, pacing around the break room as he nervously scratched at his messy brown hair.

Suddenly…

"Why are you walking away when I'm _TALKING_ to you!"

"Maybe I would stay and talk if you were actually talking, and not trying to rip me a new one every _five seconds_!"

Derek whirled around to see Leslie storming after Tyler as the two of them entered the break room in a heated debate. For some reason, Victor was standing just outside watching the quarrel, a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms and watched the magic unfold.

"Oh, so, that's all I ever do anymore is yell?! Is that what you're saying?!" Leslie shrieked, throwing her hands up in frustration as her voice cracked.

"YES!" Tyler retorted, leaning his face in towards hers, closing the distance until they were just inches apart. "That's EXACTLY what I'm saying – I haven't done a damn thing wrong, yet for some reason, you won't quit jumping down my throat!"

"Um, would you two mind, I'm kind of trying to make a phone ca– "

"Well if I'm annoying you THAT much – then why don't you just break up with me already!!" she shot back, her voice cracking as she tried not to cry.

Victor had now entered the room and was seated at one of the vacant tables, eating a bag of Doritos as he watched the two scream at each other over nothing – this was better than a movie.

"Seriously, guys…" Derek interjected. "I can't hear what's--"

"I don't WANT to break up with you, but I don't think the same can be said for you! I just want to know what the hell I could have _possibly_ done to get you this pissed off at me!" Tyler shouted, his hands firmly planted on his hips.

"That's the problem Tyler!" she seethed, flipping a piece of hair out of her face as she continued. "I _ALWAYS_ have to tell you!! You can NEVER just figure it out! Instead, you continue to act like a jerk until I just drop it… But not this time, Tyler – use your brain! I'm not helping you out of this one!!"

Leslie crossed her arms and Tyler remained with his hands on his hips as they stared at each other livid, the only sound in the room Victor happily munching on his chips, still watching the show. Derek redialed their house, hoping she would pick up before another round of fighting started.

"Yeah, Chase – the woman's right… that brain of yours could use a little dusting off.." he muttered, chuckling softly.

"Shut _UP_ Victor!" the two of them cried in unison.

Victor laughed out loud, standing up and throwing his empty bag in the trash can.

"_...maybe we can all tone down our moodswings one of these days.."_ he mumbled as he walked from the room.

"I heard that!" Leslie snapped, causing Victor to yell out, "You were supposed to!" faintly from down the hallway.

Derek flipped his phone shut once more with a sigh of frustration, before opening it again, hoping that Angie had turned on her cell phone. As he dialed, he turned slightly frustrated as the call stalled before finally going through, his hopes getting up as he heard a ring.

"I don't know what to tell you, Leslie! For some reason I think you just _invented_ something to be mad at me for, because I sure as hell have no idea what could get you to want to kill me.." Tyler groaned, running a hand through his straggly blonde hair.

"I _INVENTED_ something?!" she screeched. "God, Tyler.. you're such an ASSHOLE!"

"BETTER THAN BEING A SCREECHING HARPY QUEEN BITCH!" Tyler screamed, as fire flashed in Leslie's eyes. She walked towards him, her fists balled up, before they were interrupted.

"Will you two just SHUT _**UP**_ for a minute! Dear LORD…" Derek shouted as he cast an annoyed look from behind his rectangular glasses, causing the two of them to abandon their argument temporarily in surprise.

The ray of hope he had was crushed as the voicemail picked up after only one ring, signaling that her phone was still off.

"Voicemail again… _great.._"

Tyler and Leslie looked at each other with contempt before they looked back at Derek, who had unhappily lowered himself down onto the couch, worry in his eyes.

"Hey, it's me – I called the house and you're not picking up.. I'm, worried about you, so call me when you get this.."

Flipping his phone shut for what seemed like the millionth time that day, Derek clasped his cell tightly in his hands, as he leaned back on the couch, before turning his attention over to Tyler and Leslie.

"Sorry for yelling – I just, don't know where Angie is…"

The two of them remained quiet as Derek continued.

"..Most likely, she found a reason to leave because she hates staying in bed… but still. Her cell's not on, she's not at home – I'm just, worried.."

"I'm sure she's fine, Derek…" Leslie started in, sitting next to him. "You're right – she probably just went out to get some fresh air or something…"

"Well that's why I'm worried – I've never seen her that sick before… she could barely stand upright, and when she did, she started crying and then, threw up…"

"Hmm…" Tyler said, contemplatively. "Did she get checked out yet?"

Derek shook his head. "We've had Max until this morning, and she's been sleeping since then – I doubt it even crossed her mind. I just got her to admit after she puked everywhere that she was even sick.."

"Sounds like Angie.." Leslie chuckled.

"Oh well, I only have an hour left until I can go home anyway… So, I guess I'll find out then.." he said, standing up. "Thanks you guys.. you can go back to your fight now.."

Tyler and Leslie exchanged a quick glance as Derek exited the room, leaving the two of them alone to hopefully reconcile.

As Derek paced further and further away from the break room, he heard nothing from the two, which was a sign that they were actually conversing like normal human beings. Just then…

"_..A screeching harpy QUEEN BITCH?!?!?"_  
"_OW! Leslie, that **HURTS**!"_

Derek chuckled to himself. If they kept going on this route, Tyler was going to end up screaming a marriage proposal at her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The slightly warm breeze blowing through her blonde hair, Angie sat on a bench in the middle of Angeles Bay park, alone with her thoughts. She had relaxed herself to the point where she wasn't crying anymore, but her body still shook periodically, nerves getting the better of her. Although she was a nurse, suddenly being flipped to a patient had messed with her ability to be able to see the positive in the situation, to assure herself that it really was going to be okay. At that moment, the only thing she wanted more than to not be sick was to have Derek by her side.

"_Call me if you need anything.. I mean, anything.. okay?"_

Casting her gaze over the treetops which were budding with new leaves for spring, Angie sighed, bundled up in her peacoat before she reluctantly reached into her pink Prada purse, removing her cell phone from it to give Derek a call. Sliding her French-manicured thumbnail between the folds of it, she flipped her thumb up, snapping open the phone to reveal a blank screen – after visiting Dr. Kasal, she had never turned it back on.

Pressing and holding the 'end call' button, the phone played its welcome song as she waited, looking out at all the people scattered around the park, laughing, playing, and having fun. She was snapped out of people-watching as her phone buzzed in her hand.

"_Five_ new voicemails?!"

Angie clicked the call button and raised the phone to her ear, looking at the ground as she listened to message by message from Derek go by, his worry increasing each time he was forced to leave a voicemail. Clearing all of them out, Angie pressed and held the '2' on her phone, speed dialing her to her husband's cell. Before it could even ring, she snapped it shut, clutching it to her chest as she began to weep again.

If he was that worried that she wasn't answering the phone – there was no way he was going to be able to handle the news she had to tell him.

Instead of trying to come up with lies as to why she sounded so upset, Angie decided to walk out of the park and back to her car. Hopefully by the time she arrived back home, she would be calm enough to be able to pass her sickness off as the stomach flu… but could only hope that Derek couldn't see right through her.

-----------------------------------------------

Angie unlocked the door to her empty apartment and walked inside, not bothering to even turn on the light. She knew her way around the place like the back of her own hand, and effortlessly maneuvered through the darkness and back into her bedroom, where the only light she turned on was the one in the bathroom. A faint sporadic beep was heard from the bedside, where the answering machine flashed a number "3". Curious, Angie gently made her way back over to the bed, flopping down on it as she held her arms tightly to her body, a pain radiating through her chest. Extending an arm out slightly, she pressed the button, and laid back on Derek's pillow, inhaling the soothing scent of him as she listened to his voice resound through their bedroom.

"_Hey, I'm sure you're sleeping, but I was calling to check and see if you were okay, or, if you're even at home for that matter.. I'll try your cell phone – I love you—"_

_BEEP._

"_Yeah, it's me again – I'm going to feel like a jerk if I just keep calling while you're trying to sleep, but I'm worried about you. I love you, call me…"_

Angie smiled to herself to hear how much he loved her and cared about her. It gave her faint hope that everything really was going to be okay…

The automated voice read off the time and date of the last message. Expecting it to be another worried call from Derek, Angie was surprised to hear another familiar voice sound from the speaker.

"_Ang, it's Leslie. I hope you call me before I murder my boyfriend. You'll never BELIEVE what he called me today – right in front of Derek and Victor, too! CALL ME!"_

Angie giggled – that didn't sound good at all.

An uneasy feeling stirring inside of her, Angie stood up and walked calmly over to the bathroom where she sat down on the floor, her stomach churning. Seconds later, she was throwing up again, crying in between gags as she remembered Dr. Kasal telling her that this would be happening a lot before she began treatment. Shaking, Angie raised up a hand and flushed the toilet, reaching up to the counter where she pulled down a bottle of mouthwash, swished around some in her mouth, and spat it into the toilet before flushing that as well.

A wet washcloth in hand, Angie leaned her back against the wall directly across from the toilet, closing her eyes as she tried desperately to think.

"_How can I possibly tell Derek that I have..."_

Time's up. From the master bathroom, Angie heard the front door open. She mildly started to panic as she wiped the tears from her face, breathing steadily to calm herself.

"_Angie? You home, honey?"_

His voice was faint, but fast approaching. After all, it's not like their apartment was that big.

Angie let out one last deep breath as she heard gentle footsteps scrape across the carpet, coming toward the bathroom. Head still rested against the wall, Angie looked down at her jeans and black fitted T-shirt before her eyes shifted over to Derek's black dress shoes, which were planted on the bathroom tile. Her gaze slowly ran up his entire body, stopping when her green eyes met his chocolate ones, a worried expression on his face.

Before she could say anything he was on the ground next to her as he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders, pulling her into his lap and hugging her tightly.

"Where have you been all day? I was worried sick…" he asked, kissing her on the forehead before he paused. "Ooh… Angie, you're burning up again…"

Holding around his waist, Angie inhaled his familiar scent as her face remained pressed into his chest, trying desperately to hold back tears.

"I-I went, to uh, go for a walk… get some, fresh… fresh, air…" she stammered out before beginning to cry.

"Oh, Angie…" Derek cooed softly, sitting Indian-style as he pulled her into his lap completely. "Shh, sweetie… I know it sucks right now but you're going to be okay.. I'm here to take care of you now, alright?"

Angie nodded, tears staining his uniform. "O-O-Okay…"

She didn't believe that – things were so far from okay right now, and Derek didn't even know the half of it.

He held her in that position for a small while as she settled down, her breathing eventually slowing as she relaxed in his grasps, feeling safe, and loved. Her face still buried right near his heart, Derek cocked his head down and to the side until his cheek was gently pressed to her forehead, as he spoke.

"How about… you get your pajamas on, get cleaned up and crawl into bed with me, and I'll give you a long massage to make you feel better… how does that sound?"

Angie sniffled, before she picked up her head to look at him, smiling through her tears.

"That sounds, perfect…"

He smiled, giving her a kiss. "Okay – Leslie sent home some soup for you to make you feel better, so I'll go heat that up while you change, okay?"

Derek helped Angie to her feet and gave her one more kiss on the cheek, smiling at her before he walked out of their bedroom and into the kitchen. Closing the bathroom door behind her, Angie turned towards the sink where she splashed some cool water on her face, resting her hands on the counter as she hung her head and closed her eyes.

"_I know you're scared to death Angie, but so is he, and he's the one who will either live or die depending on how things go... we all know how worried you are, but it's your responsibility as his nurse and as his friend to be strong for him when he can't be strong for himself..."_

Raising her head up, she gazed at her reflection in the mirror, sniffling once as she recalled her conversation with Dr. Kimishima on the day she had almost lost the man she married to a disease that he had eventually helped put an end to. Thinking about those words, she realized that they fit perfectly into her current situation – she was scared to death. However, as she thought the situation over more and more, Angie knew that deep down, although Derek would be scared as well, he would be strong for her because he was her rock, and he loved her more than anything. In the time that she needed him the most, Angie took a big breath as she removed the piece of paper from her back pocket, tracing over it with her fingers. Closing her eyes and turning away from the mirror, she grasped the paper in her right hand and pushed it into her back pocket, as her left opened the door to the bathroom – no amount of preparation could help here, so the best thing to do was to just get it over with… The quicker Derek knew the truth, the faster he could make her feel better about it… or so she hoped.

Angie stopped short as she saw Derek lying in the middle of their bed, hands behind his head and his legs sprawled out across the bed, looking more relaxed than ever.

Giggling, Angie paced a few steps towards the bed, still keeping her distance.

"Long day at work?" she asked, still smirking.

"Ughh, you have no, idea…" he replied, eyes still closed. "First of all, Leslie and Tyler would not stop clawing at each other's throats _everywhere_ I went today… second, Victor was just following them around egging them on because he had nothing better to do, and I was worried about you all day, so that just made me mad at everyone…" he trailed off.

"Oh…" she said, giggling. "Well…"

Angie paced forward towards the bed, her hands fiddling with one another and shaking uncontrollably as she tried to hide her nervousness.

"D-Derek…?"

Sensing the uneasiness in his wife's tone, he sat up, becoming concerned as he saw the look of unimaginable worry hiding the sparkle in her beautiful green eyes.

"Angie… is everything okay? Come, sit…" he said, patting what little space he hadn't taken up.

She shook her head. "No, I'd rather stand… I, need to talk to you about something…" she started, voice cracking at every word. "Something… really, important." she added, reaching around to her back pocket and pulling out the piece of paper, hiding it behind her back.

Derek's expression turned from concern to trepidation as he stared into his wife's eyes, searching them for an explanation. As she stalled, Derek smiled momentarily, causing her to become confused.

"Before you say anything … do you hear that?" he questioned, looking at her with a mischievous smirk on his face.

Angie listened for a moment, hearing nothing. "Hear, what, Derek?" she asked.

"The sound of peace and _quiet_! The sound of, "Thank GOD, we're CHILDLESS!" he exclaimed, flopping back onto the bed, chuckling.

When he realized that she wasn't returning the laughter, he remembered that Angie had something important to say as he sat up, watching as tears streamed down her face.

"Oh, Angie – I'm sorry… he said, standing up and walking towards her. "I was just trying to cheer you up…"

Right before he could wrap his arms around her, she slipped the paper back into her pocket, grasping around him tightly as she sobbed into his chest, unable to keep it hidden any longer.

"Sweetheart, is there, something wrong? What did you need to talk to me about?" he asked gently, propping his chin up on the top of her head.

"_Damn...!"_ she thought to herself. Now she had done it – she no longer had the guts to tell him the truth, and now, had to give him a reason she was crying. Angie stayed silent as she continued to sob into his chest, trying desperately to come up with a believable lie, just for the time being…

It tore Derek apart to see something get Angie this sad, and he continued to frown as she released cry after anguished cry into his chest. The only thing he could do was to hold onto her for dear life and rub her back soothingly, kiss her periodically on the forehead, and wait until she could calm down enough to be able to tell him what was up.

A short time later, Angie pulled away from him, his hands still on her waist as he gazed sympathetically into her bloodshot eyes, watching her sniffle and try to catch her breath before she finally looked back at him.

"Angie… what on earth is going on?" he asked, his voice calm but dripping with concern.

She sniffled again, stalling.

"_It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's not the truth – just say, something.."_

Looking in his eyes, Angie felt horrible for not telling him the truth right there, but it wasn't the right time yet.

"I-I just… I feel so bad, about the w-way, that I… treated, you… the other, day, D-Derek… I'm.. s-s-so s-sorry!" she choked out, successfully holding back another round of sobs.

"Oh, Angie – " he said, pulling her back into him. "That's what all this fuss was about?"

She nodded, the guilt getting to her more than ever.

"I'm sorry too – there's nothing more I hate in the world than when I fight with you.. I love you, and there's nothing that we can't get through if we talk about it…"

Angie stayed silent.

"I mean, maybe next time we get frustrated with each other, we should just go in separate rooms or something…"

"Okay.." she mumbled, muffled by his shirt.

"Okay Ang… I'm sorry too – I promise, everything will be just fine…"

Reluctantly, Angie pulled herself from his grasp, smiling as she continued to gently cry.

"Hey, hey…" he said, wiping her face dry with the back of his hand. "No more tears, okay? The only thing you should be worried about is getting better…"

_Getting better._

Fighting another round of tears, Angie nodded and forced a smile, before she kissed Derek's lips briefly.

"So, get in some PJ's, I'll go grab your bowl of soup, and then I'll give you that massage I promised…" he said, smiling as he kissed her forehead.

He walked out of the room and she grabbed a pair of sweatpants and one of Derek's old college t-shirts, as she walked back into their bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

Angie looked at herself in the mirror – she looked like an absolute mess, a far cry from her usual strong, polished self. She grabbed a Kleenex and dried her tears before tossing it into the garbage and breathing a big sigh.

Stalling for a quick moment, she reached around to her back pocket and pulled out the paper, unfolding it and looking at the words before she rested her back against the bathroom door, and slid down until she seated on the ground.

**From the office of Gregory J. Kasal**

**Patient: **Angela Ann Stiles (Maiden name Thompson)  
**D.O.B: **July 1, 1997  
**Sex: **Female  
**Blood Type: **O neg.

**Diagnostic Test Results:**

**Chiron Wavelength Test: **Negative

"_Good – so I don't have to worry about dying of this form of GUILT – now I can just let my lies eat away at me…"_

**Cancer Screenings: **Normal

"_Not like I would have the strength or the patience to deal with cancer anyway..."_

**Blood Test Results:**

_**CBC:**_ Normal – RBC just under normal limit.

"_Low RBC's are usually due to slight anemia – I haven't really been eating much lately..."_

**HCG Variant: **7,340 mIU/ml

"_How on earth am I possibly going to tell him..."_

Angie averted her gaze from the paper as she looked up at the ceiling, closing her eyes. She didn't even need to read the diagnosis line again, for she already knew what those levels signified. There was no way she was going to be able to tell Derek what that line said, mostly because…

"_Hear that, Angie? Peace and quiet!" _

His words playing in her brain, Angie sat on her knees on the mat of the bathroom floor and began to sob again, crumpling the paper in her thin, frail, hand as she leaned forward and rested her head on her knees, the paper directly below her face. She cried her heart out, careful to be quiet, as a tear fell off of her cheek and dripped onto the paper, casting a small splatter around the word --

"_That's the sound of, "Thank GOD, we're CHILDLESS!"_

"**Pregnant."**

* * *

** Aw. Awwww... Sad. **

**Way to go Derek, let's ruin the moment just a LITTLE BIT MORE!**

**A big thanks to MoonCat for the "screeching harpy queen bitch" insult! - though I used it on Leslie instead of Angie :) **

**So, this is kind of like, 'Keeping the Secret', only Angie and Derek are swapped now... and, this is a bit more delicate of a situation. So, I'd say this an interesting twist and turn to married life, wouldn't you?**

**..I'm rambling again.  
**

**Anyway, I don't have much else to really say right now (i do, but none of it makes sense.. its 2:30 am) - congrats to those of you who guessed correctly, though I REALLY did a sucky job at not making it obvious.. :sigh:**

**You may ungather now...**

**...to go review, please!  
**


	8. Lovebirds

**By some weird magnificent being, I actually wrote a chapter that was under 2000 words. I honestly didn't think that was possible.**

**So, being the awful awful person that I am, I decided I'm not ready to let you all see what's happening to Derek and Angie yet. Here, is another vital part to the story, a little bit of fighting between Tyler and Leslie. (And if you look closely enough, I foreshadow some Derek and Angie in there.. you'll just have to squint XD)**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Silence was something that Tyler Chase didn't get much of these days. That's why when he walked into Caduceus's break room and saw it empty, he reveled in the moment.

Sitting down on the couch with his cup of coffee, the blond surgeon raised the black mug to his lips, inhaling the aroma before he took a large sip, holding it in his mouth to savor it. Unbeknownst to him, someone was creeping up behind him.

"GAHH!!!"

Tyler jumped a great deal out of his seat, still holding tightly onto his coffee mug as he sprayed the coffee in his mouth in all directions in front of him, creating quite a mess on the ground. When he had wiped the dripping coffee from his mouth, he set the mug on the table in front of him before whirling around in his seat to see Derek nearly on the floor, holding his sides as he laughed.

"I'm sorry, Tyler…" he said, wiping his eyes as he stood up. "I had to…"

"Yeah, yeah… does your wife know she married a four year old?" Tyler asked, a small smirk forming on his face.

"She sure does – it was actually in her vows!" Derek joked, as Tyler walked around the couch and elbowed him gently in the arm, before walking out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To get a mop!"

Just as he walked around the corner, Leslie smashed into him, dropping a handful of charts she was carrying as she gasped.

Tyler quickly scrambled to the floor to help her pick them up, thankful that the papers hadn't scattered everywhere. Neither of them said a word as they continued to straighten the pile before Tyler stood up, handing the stack he had collected back to Leslie, who still avoided eye contact.

"Thanks.." she said, looking at him for a brief moment before she started to walk forward. Quickly he stepped to his side to block her, and she stopped, looking up at him as she tried going to the other side, her boyfriend moving with her to get her to stop.

"This isn't funny." she said quietly, her expression matching her words.

"It wasn't intended to be.." Tyler said, still standing in front of her. If she really wanted to get around him, she could've, but something held her there.

"Listen, Les… I'm sorry for the other day – you know I never try to intentionally hurt you…"

"Hmm, and screeching harpy queen bitch was supposed to spare my feelings, how?"

Tyler sighed, hanging his head as he tried his hardest not to get upset.

"I know, I just kind of got carried away, I didn't mean it.."

"Then why did you say it?"

"Well, why did you call me an asshole?"

"Because you were being one.."

At that exact moment, Victor Niguel walked around the corner with a new proposal for Sidney to sign, stopping just out of sight of the dueling couple to watch more hilarity ensue.

"Okay…" Tyler replied, slightly on edge. "Do you maybe think that calling me an asshole kind of didn't spare my feelings?"

"And you could've walked away right then, Tyler!" Leslie retorted, slightly raising her voice. "I'm not proud of what I did, but you still didn't have to call me a bitch.."

"…Yeah Tyler, geez.." Victor muttered mockingly from around the corner, quickly covering his mouth as both Tyler and Leslie discovered his hiding spot.

"Shut _UP_, Victor!" they both yelled in unison again, watching as Victor moved out from behind the corner.

"I could say the same to you both. Leave the 90210 drama at home, would ya?" he chuckled, walking past them and to Sidney's office. Tyler and Leslie turned back in toward each other.

"You're right.." he replied, gritting his teeth. "But, you didn't even apologize for calling me an asshole, while I've apologized over and over again.."

Leslie glared at him, narrowing her eyes.

"Fine. I'm sorry, Tyler."

"Oh yeah, cause you really meant that…"

Leslie scoffed. "You know what, I don't know why I even _BOTHER_."

And with that, she threw her shoulder into his, knocking him backward as she stormed off. He turned around as he watched her dark hair fan out around her.

"I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU BOTHER EITHER!" he shouted down the hall, failing to produce a reaction from her, but instead catching the attention of everyone around.

Frustrated, Tyler stormed back to his office, passing Derek and Angie's on the way there, where he saw Angie curled up in a blanket on the couch, crying. He stopped short and backed up, standing timidly in the doorway, looking around the office to see that it was only her in the room. She stared up at him and smiled through her tears, the light of the TV illuminating the wet stains on her cheeks as she tried to quickly wipe them away.

"Where is he and what did he do to you? You know what, doesn't matter. I'll kill him either way.."

Angie giggled. "No, Derek didn't do anything. He had a meeting today for the next symposium, that's why he's gone."

"Oh.." Tyler said, smiling as he walked into the room and sat down, putting an arm around Angie.

"Need to talk?"

The blonde shook her head, wiping her face dry once again.

"Not right now, but thank you so much for asking.."

"Anytime.."

There was a slight pause.

"So, how are things with you and Leslie?"

Tyler's smile faded.

"I, don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, that good?"

"If we keep going this way, there's not going to be an 'us' to fight about…"

Angie pouted at him sympathetically.

"…can I give you some advice?"

"Please, please, please do. I don't understand women at all.."

Angie smiled. "Good – that's the way we like it."

Tyler chuckled.

"Do you think that, maybe, Leslie is upset about something that she is too afraid to outright admit to you?" she asked, scratching her forehead with her left hand.

"See, that's the thing, I don't—"

"Maybe…" Angie interjected, scratching at her head still as she stuck her hand out slightly, trying to get him to notice her ring. "…she doesn't want to bring it up because she doesn't know how you feel about it, and is scared of being rejected."

Still oblivious to what Angie was trying to tell him, Tyler continued. "But, we talk about everything! And all of a sudden, we didn't anymore…"

"Oh for Pete's sake Tyler!" she exclaimed, pointing at the ring on her finger over and over again, her eyebrows raised.

Tyler stalled for a moment as he tried to piece it all together.

"Oh… OH! But, we've talked about that before – she said that she was happy with us right where we were at, and that she didn't need a piece of paper to show that we were in love… no offense."

"None taken." Angie replied. "But, how long have you been dating?"

"Wow, almost six years…" he said, reminiscent.

"And how long ago did you have that conversation?"

"…..shit."

"Yeah, there it is.." Angie giggled, patting him on the back.

"That's just the thing though – I bought her a ring a little bit ago, but I was afraid to ask her because I thought she would turn me down… and then we started fighting so badly that I couldn't do it…"

Angie opened her eyes in surprise, but Tyler sent her a look as if to say "Yeah, like Derek didn't already tell you.." which made her silently drop the act.

"What, do I do, Angie?"

She smiled. "You bring her home flowers tonight with a sweet card, and sit her down, and just talk. You don't have to propose tonight, and please GOD don't tell her that I let you in on this… but just, talk. Don't yell, talk. Because you know if you start yelling, that Victor will somehow turn up in your bushes… and nobody wants Victor in their bushes.."

Suddenly, Angie's watch beeped.

"Oh, uh-oh.. Derek's meeting just ended, I've, got to go.."

Tyler looked at her confused, but Angie's body language made it very clear that she was in no way interested in explaining, so instead, he thanked her, and walked out.

Flowers and card in hand and engagement ring in his pants pocket, Tyler stood outside of his and Leslie's front door, trying to gain some composure before he walked inside.

As he placed a hand on the door, he hoped that he could explain himself well enough to make his proposal come across as legitimate, like it really was, instead of portraying it as a way to get her to forgive him. Their relationship had not been in a good place lately and they both knew it, but as Tyler placed a hand on the handle to the front door and turned it slowly, he silently hoped that he wasn't too late.

* * *

**Aww. - will he be too late? We'll see!**

**Derek and Angie to return next chapter, which will be not too long until I can get it up, seeing as I wrote Hostage and this in two days :). So until then, please review! **

**  
**


	9. Avoidance

**And, I progress the storyline! Yay!**

**Two chapters two days in a row? What am i thinking?! **

**Before I started this chapter, I was like, "oh yeah, I'm going to make this funny..." but for some reason, it just turned out being kind of depressing.. so, I'm sorry, for that..**

**Derek and Angie are back! Hooray! AND, we get to find out what's going on with Tyler and Leslie. So much stuff to do, so little time!**

**Let's go people - CHAPTER TIME! **

* * *

Tyler walked in the front door to his and Leslie's house, flowers and card in hand, his heart beating so fast that it was almost like a gentle hum. 

"Leslie?" he asked, the stale silence of his living room the only reply he received.

His shoes scratched across the carpet and then clicked across the linoleum as he walked from the living room to the kitchen, wondering where his girlfriend was. Tyler paused for a moment in the kitchen before he walked over to the door to their garage, opening it to find that Leslie's car wasn't inside.

"Hmm… maybe she went out with Angie again…" he thought, walking over to their answering machine. Usually if she was going out after work, she would leave a message, but as he pressed the button and heard "No new messages", he began to get worried.

"_It's not like I'm going to be able to think with these stuffy work clothes on…"_

Kicking off his shoes at the front door, Tyler walked across the carpet and down the hallway to his and Leslie's bedroom, finding it empty as well. As he unbuttoned the buttons on his scrubs, he flipped on the light, placing the card and the flowers on Leslie's dresser.

Tyler pulled his scrubs off and replaced them with his college sweats. Walking out of the closet, his heart dropped straight into his stomach as his eyes noticed a small white piece of paper in the middle of his and Leslie's neatly made bed.

-------------------------------------------

"Angie, are you okay honey?"

Angie took a deep breath and opened the door to the bathroom, coming face to face with her husband who was holding a green soup mug in his hands and a pretty pink drink on the nightstand, a concerned expression set on his face.

"Yeah, I'm okay… mm, what kind of soup is that?"

Derek smiled. "Homemade chicken noodle – I'd like to take credit for it, but Leslie would hurt me.."

She giggled, taking the mug from his hands. "Thank you, Derek…"

"You're welcome." he replied, still with a big smile on his face. "I also made you that.." he said, pointing over to the drink. "It's a cosmopolitan.. I know how they cheer you up.."

He couldn't have read her mind more.

The both of them stood in the door to their bathroom, Derek staring at Angie smiling as she sipped gently from the steaming mug.

"What?" she asked, slightly smiling at him.

"Oh, it's nothing.." he said, turning away from her.

If there was something that annoyed Angie to no end, it was when people did that to her.

"Derek!" she squeaked, setting the mug down on her dresser. "What!?"

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek.

"Like I said, it's nothing – I just love when you wear my old T-shirts… you're so, sexy.."

Angie raised a questioning eyebrow as Derek kissed her lips.

"I look like a mess, you've got to be kidding…"

He smiled, kissing her again. "I beg to differ.."

She returned the smile.

"Finish your soup so we can go and relax.."

---------------------------

Angie set the empty mug on the nightstand, sighing as she pulled their white, fluffy down comforter up over her legs. She reached over and took a big sip of her cosmopolitan, before she thought twice.

_Alcohol? Baby? Hello, Ang -- what are you thinking!_

Derek walked out of the bathroom rubbing his head with a towel, trying to quickly dry his freshly washed hair as he watched Angie spit her drink back into the glass, a perturbed look on her face.

"You done?" he asked, smiling, to which she nodded embarrassed, trying to cover up what she knew he had just seen.

"I'm sorry - it's delicious, I just, took a sip and didn't think that my stomach could handle it.."

"That's perfectly fine honey.." he replied, taking the empty soup mug and glass into the kitchen.

Derek turned off the light to the bathroom and the light to the bedroom when he returned, turning on the lamp on his bedside as he climbed into bed, gently removing her shirt before rolling Angie over onto her stomach. Sitting on his knees next to her, he placed both hands onto her shoulders and pressed his thumbs gently but forcefully into her neck, her eyes closing instantly at his touch as she sighed out loud. If there was one thing that she could never get enough of, it was Derek's massages.

He worked his thumbs all the way down her back, massaging away her aches and pains as he alternated smooth, fluid movements with deep pressure. Angie was nearly asleep by the time he had reached her lower back as she suddenly felt his nails scratch her skin – every time he gave her a massage she loved to be itched afterward, and she smiled as he began to do so. After a short time he patted her back soothingly and kissed her forehead, rolling her over onto her back.

"Mmm.. thank you so much sweetie…" she said, puckering her lips.

Leaning forward, Derek pressed his lips against hers, and gently rolled on top of her, running his fingers through her hair as his kisses picked up speed. Angie giggled as she pulled his shirt off and then his glasses, as he reached over and switched off the lamp. She softly sighed as she felt his lips kiss from her neck down her chest, finally settling on her stomach right above the waistband of her sweatpants. Suddenly, her mind triggered as she realized he was kissing the spot occupied by their unborn child, which he still knew nothing about.

With a loud gasp, Angie quickly sat up, forcefully bumping heads with her husband before she pulled her body out from underneath his.

"Oh, DAMMIT!" he said, holding his head as he hunched over. Angie was too shaken to even give a second thought to her throbbing temple as she quickly pulled on her shirt and rushed off into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it. Completely confused, Derek rolled off of the bed, still holding his aching head as he stumbled off of their bed and over to the door, trying to twist the handle.

"Honey..?" he groaned, furiously rubbing at his forehead. He stopped paying attention to the pain as he could hear Angie gently crying on the other side of the door.

"Oh, Angie… are you sick again?" he asked, jiggling the handle again. "Open up so I can come sit with you…"

"No!" she shrieked, leaving him confused. "I mean, I just, want to be alone right now Derek.."

Derek felt completely helpless from the other side of the door as he listened to Angie sniffle and cry, wondering if it was something he did.

"I'm sorry if I did something to upset you honey, I really am…"

She didn't say a word, just sniffled a few more times before he heard her pulling out Kleenex from the box on top of the toilet.

"Okay, I'll be out here whenever you're ready to talk… I love you.."

Still no response.

Regretfully, Derek pulled himself away from the door and walked slowly out into the kitchen, where he took an ibuprofen before taking a seat outside the bathroom door, waiting for Angie to come out... which she never did.

------------------------------------------------

The sound of a beeping alarm clock broke the silence in Tyler and Leslie's bedroom, but neither of them was in it.

Quickly, Tyler stumbled into the room, still half asleep and confused, as he turned off the racket. He took a seat on the edge of the bed before returning out to the living room, where he had fallen asleep waiting for Leslie to come home. Next to the couch he saw his cell phone, the house phone, and the crumpled up note with which he had fallen asleep, suddenly remembering the events which had led to him willingly sleeping on the couch. As he returned to the dark brown cushioned fabric, Tyler couldn't help but read her words over and over again, each time becoming more depressed. Remembering what time it was, he quickly realized that he didn't have time to dwell over it, as he walked over into his bedroom and into the shower, sadly passing the flowers, card, and small jewelry box on the way. After getting dressed and filling his travel mug with some fresh, hot coffee, Tyler grabbed his keys and walked towards the door. Stopping, he looked over at the coffee table, before pacing over to it, stuffing the letter into his pocket, and closing the front door behind him – when he got to work, he would have Leslie explain what she was talking about.

------------------------------------------------------

That same morning, Angie was awoken by the sound of gentle knocking.

"Sweetie, are you awake?"

Slowly, she peeled her cheek off of the tile confused, but quickly remembered why she was in the bathroom.

Three more knocks.

"Honey, you're really worrying me.. will you please open the door?"

Angie sighed and reached up toward the handle from her place on the ground, opening it sleepily to see Derek seated outside, his back resting against the doorframe. His expression turned from exhaustion to sadness as he looked at her, hair all over the place, tile marks on her cheek, and mascara streamed down her face from where tears had fallen the night before.

"Is it time for work?"

He nodded. "I made coffee…"

"Thank God – it's going to be a long day.."

"Angie – can we, talk, about last night?"

She stared at him.

"What about it?"

Derek chortled. "What do you mean, 'what about it'? You freaked out and ended up sleeping in the bathroom – and I slept right here in the doorway waiting for you to come out!"

Suddenly, Angie felt guilty. "You didn't have to do that…" she whispered, to which he shook his head.

"Yes I did – you really worried me. One minute, we're.. _**you know**_.. and the next minute you're locked in the bathroom.."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine.." she replied quickly, standing up and turning on the water to the shower. "I've got to take a shower, be out in a minute.."

She closed the door to the bathroom and locked it before Derek could get a word in edgewise, leaving him even more confused than before. Reluctantly, he picked himself up off of the ground, grabbed a towel from the linen closet, and walked over to the bathroom down the hall from the living room, where he too got ready for work.

--------------------------------

Tyler felt butterflies grow in his stomach as the elevator approached the floor with his and Leslie's office, unsure of what to say to her. He had placed the ring in his pocket again just in case, though surely doubted that he was going to be able to ask her after what happened the night before.

Tyler walked down the hallway, taking a deep breath as he turned the handle to their office. He took it as a good sign that it was open, which meant that someone had unlocked it before him – and that someone was Leslie. He swung open the dark brown door, completely surprised to see Sidney staring back at him instead of Leslie.

"Ah, Dr. Chase – right on time too…" he said, leaning back in Leslie's chair.

"Director Kasal?" he asked, the look on his face mirroring his extreme confusion. "What, are you doing in here, sir?"

Sidney stood up and closed the door behind Tyler, motioning for him to sit down, which he did. For some reason, Tyler had a feeling that this was not going to be good…

-------------------------------

Finally emerging from the bathroom, Angie was not at all surprised to see Derek seated on the edge of their bed, staring at her with the same look of concern on his face. She walked over to their closet where she closed the door, pulling on her uniform quickly as she walked back outside to see Derek brushing his teeth. Avoiding eye contact with him, she rushed into the bathroom again where she too quickly brushed her teeth, before pacing quickly out into the living room, stopping at the front door and putting on her shoes.

"Are you ready?" she called from the front door, tapping her foot nervously.

Derek slowly walked out of the bedroom. "You know we don't have to rush, that, we have a little bit… right? Come have some coffee…"

As much as she wanted to avoid opportunities to discuss last night's events with him, Angie couldn't help the fact that coffee sounded delicious right now. Before she could think about it anymore, she saw Derek set down a mug for her on the counter, prepared with two creams and a sugar – just the way she liked it.

Angie picked up the mug and brought it to her lips, inhaling the aroma before she took a big sip and set the mug back down onto the counter. Before she could swallow it, her eyes widened.

_"…caffeine!"_

Derek watched as Angie's eyes shot open, and within a second, she was at the sink spitting the liquid out into the drain. He looked at her, and then back at his coffee, where he took a sip, questioning her actions.

"It's not, that, bad… is it, Angie?"

Her back to him, Angie's green eyes were still wide, now trying to think of an explanation.

"What did you _do_ to this, Derek? It's awful!"

Angie felt terrible as she whirled around to see Derek stare at her and then the coffee, where he took another sip in confusion, before hanging his head slightly.

"I-I didn't think it was, that bad… I'm, sorry…"

He poured her cup and his into a travel mug and closed the lid, grabbing his keys.

"First a crappy Cosmo, and now this - maybe I should stop making you drinks all together.."

She looked at him sympathetically.

"Come on, I'll take you to Starbucks on the way…"

"No, that's okay – I really think that turned me off of coffee for awhile…" she replied, mentally smacking herself. _"Angie, you are such a bitch!"_

Derek looked at her confused before he shrugged and closed the door behind them, sipping his coffee. Maybe he was crazy, but he actually liked it.

-------------------------------------------

"What do you mean, leave of absence?" Tyler asked as he rose to his feet, slightly panicked.

"Leslie called me at home late last night and told me that she was having some personal problems, and needed to take some time off of work… She was upset so I didn't prod further, I just thought that I should tell you because you're going to be short an assistant for a little while."

"Did she tell you where she went?"

Sidney shook his head slowly.

"Who's going to assist me while she's gone?"

"On the more difficult operations, I've arranged for Derek and Angie to help you out. Any other time, I will be assigning you a nurse from downstairs, though I'm not quite sure who yet – give me a little bit, and I'll have everything taken care of."

Tyler nodded his head, hands still firmly on his hips. "Thanks, Sidney.." he said through clenched teeth.

"Not a problem Dr. Chase. Have a good day."

And with that, Sidney closed the door behind him, leaving Tyler completely alone.

----------------------------------

Derek unlocked the door to his and Angie's office, walking inside. When he didn't hear Angie's heels click behind him, he turned around to see her standing in the doorway, eyes wide.

"What's going on, Ang?" he asked.

She paused, looking up at him. "Oh, its nothing – I just, forgot to eat breakfast this morning…"

"Do you want me to go run and get you something?"

"That would be, uh.. good…"

"What do you want?" he asked, grabbing for his keys again.

"Um.. I don't care… surprise me.. just, no coffee.."

He chuckled. "Okay, I get it, it was terrible…"

She smiled briefly as he kissed her. "I'll be back in a flash – love you.."

"I love you too.."

After waving goodbye as the elevator closed with Derek in it, Angie quickly rushed from their office and down the hall. Saying hi to Dr. Clarks and Dr. Hoffman on the way, she finally reached her destination – Tyler and Leslie's office.

"Les, you in here?" she asked, knocking on the door as she gently swung it open.

Silence. Tyler and Leslie were both gone, and it looked like neither of them had even been there yet.

Contemplative, Angie stepped softly into the room and looked around, spotting a slightly crumpled piece of paper on Leslie's desk. Looking behind her to see if anyone was watching, she leaned over slightly and read it, a hand flying up to her mouth in surprise.

"_Tyler-_

_It's no big surprise to either of us that we haven't really been on the same page for a long time now. All we ever do is fight and I'm really quite sick of it – I don't understand how we got to this point, but frankly, part of me is scared because I feel like we'll never make it out. I'm going to stay elsewhere for awhile so that I can get my thoughts straight, and figure out what I really want... please don't try to call, because I just need to be alone right now._

_I'm sorry – _

_Leslie"_

Angie's heart sank as she read the letter, noticing that some of the paragraph was smeared due to what looked like tear stains. She put it down quickly and closed the door behind her, rushing back off to her office, a small pain shooting through her stomach as she sat down in Derek's office chair.

"I know, I know, you're hungry, I get it…" she said to her belly, sighing as she began to compose a new email.

----------------------------------------------

Studying an X-ray, Dr. Greg Kasal jumped slightly as his computer beeped with a new email. He smiled when he read it was from Angie, and set down the film on his desk to type a response.

----------------------------------------------

"I'm back!" Derek chirped, walking into their office and setting down a giant fresh breakfast sandwich on Angie's desk in front of her, laughing as she 'oohed' before tearing into it. He sat down at his desk and ate his own sandwich, smiling as he realized that Angie finally looked happy again.

Pacing over to his desk, she crawled up and into his lap and kissed him even though he still had a mouthful, before setting her head happily on his shoulder. He put down the sandwich and hugged around her waist, swallowing before he talked.

"Hey.." he said gently, causing her to pick up her head and look at him. "If you still don't want to talk, I understand – but you're worrying me.. you're not, acting like yourself.."

She paused. "I'm sorry, but nothing's wrong honey – I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Oh really?"

Angie nodded and Derek nodded. "Okay.. just, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

_Anything._

The two of them were interrupted by a loud succession of beeps, startling them out of their conversation. Derek turned his head to the monitor as Angie returned hers to his shoulder.

"Oh look, I've got a new email from Dr. Kasal.."

Angie's head shot up from his shoulder and planted her feet on the ground, rolling them away from the screen as she stood up and rushed over to the keyboard, hitting the 'delete' button before Derek could read the reply that he had sent to her. She turned around slowly to face him, noticing a very annoyed expression set in his eyes.

"Angie, what are you doing?! Why are you deleting my emails!?" he asked, voice slightly raised.

"That, wasn't for you!" she replied, hands on her hips.

"Then why did it come to my inbox?"

Angie pointed towards her blank computer screen. "I haven't turned mine on yet, so I used yours to send him an email earlier this morning.."

His annoyed expression stayed on his face. "Okay.." he trailed off, eyes still locked with hers.

Suddenly, Angie felt something rise up in her chest.

"Angie.." Derek started with a serious tone. "Are you, hiding something from me?"

She shook her head rapidly, still feeling a rising within her chest, now towards her heart.

He stood up and paced towards her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded again, this time, the feeling up into her throat. Derek's eyes glazed over with concern from behind his glasses as he watched Angie's green eyes shoot wide open, before she dove for the trash can, immediately vomiting into it.

"Whoa! Angie!" he cried, pitching himself forward and grabbing her hair as he rubbed her back soothingly. A few retches later and she was done, miserably picking her head up out of the can and looking at him, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, honey…" he cooed, pulling her into his arms as she cried. "What has gotten into you lately?"

"_YOUR BABY, THAT'S WHAT!"_ the voice inside her head screamed, but she outwardly remained silent.

"Maybe, you should get checked out…" he suggested, to which she sat up quickly, rising to her feet shortly after.

"No.." she snapped. "I'm fine, I just – don't feel well lately. It's probably just a bug.."

Angie opened the door to their office, looking at Derek once more who was still seated on the ground next to the garbage can.

"I'm going to go get some fresh air…" she started, walking from the office. "I'll be back in a little while.. make sure you're on time for the meeting.."

Before he could retaliate, she closed the door and was gone.

Something was going on, but Derek couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was almost like, she was avoiding him…

No, that couldn't be it.

_Or was it?_

-----------------------------------------

An hour later, Derek walked into the board room at Caduceus, his exhaustion catching up with him. He was so tired from sleeping sitting up last night, that he was finding it harder and harder to stay awake as the day progressed. He watched as Sidney entered the room followed closely by Dr. Clarks. Shortly after, Tyler arrived and sat on Derek's left, Dr. Hoffman slipped in.

"Okay, let's get started..." Sidney began, eyes fixed on the empty seat next to Derek.

Silently, Angie slipped into the room and took a seat. Not the one next to Derek like usual, but the one on the complete opposite side of the table, much to his surprise. She smiled at him briefly before pulling out a stack of paperwork and handing it to Sidney, who looked it over quickly before he began talking.

Tyler, Derek, and Angie had all had pretty rough nights last night, so by the first ten minutes of the meeting, all three of them were fighting to stay awake.

"..and that's why we need the notes for the next symposium, like we discussed last night. Do you have them, Dr. Stiles?" he asked, failing to solicit a response. Derek was holding his head up with his left hand, his elbow propped on the table, eyes closed.

"_Dr. Stiles?!"_ Sidney asked louder, Derek jumping to attention.

"Oh, right... notes.. here you go.." he said, groggily handing them over.

Sidney sighed as he looked around the room to see half the people at the meeting almost asleep.

"Okay, we're going to adjourn this for when you guys are actually going to remember what I'm saying. For Pete's sake - all of you, go to bed. NOW."

"Yes Mr. Kasal.." the three muttered, lazily picking themselves out of their chairs and walking from the room.

Sidney sighed.

--------------------------------------

Tyler Chase sat outside the back doors of Caduceus, looking out over the cityscape of Angeles Bay. Resting his back against the building, he sighed deeply, taking a sip of his water bottle before the door next to him opened and Derek walked out, holding a trash can. Tyler watched with a confused smile on his face as Derek turned on the hose and sprayed the water into the can, dumping out what looked like vomit into the drain, his mouth contorted into a look of disgust.

"What's going on?" Tyler asked, rising to his feet.

Derek looked up and smirked. "Oh nothing – Angie's got a stomach bug and decided to take it out on my trash can.."

Tyler smiled as Derek turned off the hose, setting the trash can down flipped over on the grass to let it dry out. He watched as his friend's smile disappeared, revealing a pained look in its place.

"Tyler, is, everything okay?" Derek asked, to which the blonde surgeon quickly nodded.

"Yeah. Yep, everything's fine, good.. awesome.." he said, to which Derek raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, fine, everything sucks. You happy, Stiles?" he blurted out, looking down at the ground.

Tyler began to tell Derek about the advice that Angie had given him the day before, and how he had returned home ready to make up and possibly propose, before realizing that Leslie had left by the time he had got there. Derek's eyes widened in shock when Tyler told him that Leslie had called Sidney and had taken an emergency leave of absence, unsure of what to say to comfort his best friend.

"Wow.. So, you have no idea where she is?" he asked.

Tyler squinted his eyes slightly. "Personally, I think she's at her sister's… but I have to make sure that I'm right before I just go barging over there…"

Derek nodded in agreement. "Will you let me know if there's anything I can do?" he asked, concerned.

"I appreciate it, dude.. same goes to you if you need help with whatever… seems like Angie's kinda having a rough time lately…"

"You're telling me… for some odd reason, I feel like she's avoiding me.. Did she mention anything to you when you talked?"

Tyler's memory sparked to the day before where he had spoken to Angie. _"Oh, uh-oh, Derek's meeting just ended... I've got to go.."_

He gulped. "Nope, she didn't say anything dude, sorry.."

Derek paused. "Oh, okay. Well, I've gotta run. Talk to you later, Tyler."

"See ya man.."

----------------------------------------------

Back upstairs, Angie was filling out paperwork at her desk, three hours left to go before hers and Derek's next pre-op meeting. When he walked into the room with a slightly damp trash can in hand, Angie smiled to herself, but then rose out of her seat, looking at the time – Dr. Kasal was supposed to check up on her and the baby today, and she was going to be late if she didn't hightail it.

"Where are you going?" he asked, slightly wondering if she really was trying to avoid him.

"Uh, I'm um, going to… the uh, on-call room for just awhile.." she stammered, blushing slightly. "I'm going to take Sidney's advice.."

"Oh, good, I wanted a nap too – I'll come with you.."

"NO!" she shrieked. "I mean, uh.. did I say on-call room? I meant, uh, Sidney's office.."

Derek looked at her questioningly, still trying to trap her into admitting what was going on. "Oh, I had to ask him about something too – I'll come with you.."

The truth was, Angie was finding it very hard to believe that Derek hadn't put the signs together yet. Morning sickness, inability to consume caffeine or alcohol, constant irritability, no period – she figured that the more and more she was around him, the easier it may be for him to tell.. and she wasn't ready for that yet.

Unable to come up with any more lies, Angie snapped. "Do we SERIOUSLY have to do everything together?! Just leave me ALONE!!"

Derek flopped back into his office chair as Angie stormed out of room. She was undoubtedly avoiding him… but why?

Angie walked into Sidney's office, whom Greg had already contacted, and let him know she was leaving before she walked downstairs and hailed a cab, sending it straight for Hope Hospital.

As he ran through the events of the past couple days, Derek stopped when he remembered her jumping to delete an email from Dr. Kasal this morning.

Sure she had deleted it from the inbox – but wasn't that was why the 'trash' folder existed..?

Derek had a momentary lapse as he decided whether or not to betray his wife's privacy. If he wasn't so worried about her, he would've cleared out the trash folder and moved on with it, but this was a different story. He double clicked the untitled message and read it's contents over and over again, completely unable to believe the words in front of him.

_Angie – _

_I'm so glad to hear from you – it makes me happy to know that you're going to let me see you today. I still can't believe that Derek hasn't found out – that he hasn't put all the signs together, but since neither of us are sure how he's going to react, it's probably best that you break the news to him when you think he's ready.. After all, how would you feel if a close friend and your husband were keeping this big of a secret from you? At any rate, I haven't told Cybil yet either, so don't worry – everyone will find out when the time is right. Until then, just relax.. everything will be fine. I'll see you today at my office at 4:30._

_Yours,  
Greg_

Derek wasn't sure what to do as tears pooled in his eyes, panic setting in through his entire body. His arms tingled as he stared at the monitor, for some reason unable to take his eyes off the message, but becoming exponentially more depressed as he read it over again, one sad thought in his mind:

_She's cheating on me..._

He stood up and grabbed his keys, turning off the monitor as he stormed from the room, anger and sadness building up as he jumped into his Jeep and fired it up, squealing his tires as he drove from the parking lot.

His destination? Hope Hospital.

* * *

**Aww, poor Derek.. he actually thinks she's sleeping with Greg.. hahaha, I can't help but laugh at that.. Greg's like, almost 20 years older than her, thats just... weird.**

**Looks like things aren't going so well for our favorite couples.. I guess we'll have to just wait and see how it all turns out? grins**

**See? There were some kind of funny parts - but Angie avoiding him was actually more sad than I thought it was going to be. Oh well - Derek's racing off to try to catch them in something that isn't happening.. will he find them? Will Angie finally tell him what's going on?**

**You'll see.. later :) **

**PS: MoonCat - you should definitely get an account here :) **


	10. Truth Be Told

**Okay, I think this time, I'm going to leave the Author's Notes to the end of the chapter, except warn you here that this chapter is a big lengthy. Please read the AN at the end.. thanks!  
**

**Enjoy :) **

* * *

His destination? Hope Hospital. 

As he stepped on the gas, Derek weaved in and out of traffic, and laughed for a moment when he saw an old woman flip him the bird.

Pulling into the parking lot, he saw Greg's silver corvette parked just a few spaces down from where he pulled in, and his anger rose again. Briefly he remembered that he had a 9-iron in his trunk that would assist him in relieving his anger on the vehicle, but quickly shook that notion out of his head.

The automatic doors at Hope opened for Derek as he walked briskly inside, and in a very rare move, passed up the elevator and went bounding up the stairs. Greg's office was on the sixth floor, and though his legs burned at the fourth, Derek ignored it, determined to get upstairs and confirm his suspicions.

Breathing labored, Derek finally arrived at a door with a big navy blue '6' painted on it. He leaned over temporarily and tried his best to catch his breath, his arms and legs both tingling from sheer terror at the thought of the only love of his life being in the arms of someone else. The anger rising up in him again, Derek put on his game face and yanked on the handle to the door, sending it crashing into the wall behind him as the people on the floor jumped to attention. Some turned back to their work and others watched as Derek stormed out of the stairwell and down the hallway.

601… 602…

He passed two offices down the small tan-painted corridor, clenching his teeth as he drove forward.

603… 604…

Squeezing his hands into fists, he pressed on.

605… 606…

Ignoring the stares of passerbys who could see the look of contempt flashing in his deep brown eyes, Derek stopped in front of the office labeled '607', a neatly typed nameplate right under the room number reading "Dr. Gregory Kasal – Chief of Surgical Staff". Part of him wanted to rip it off and throw it at him upon entering the room, but he knew better. As Derek rested his hand on the cold, metal doorknob, he glanced briefly at his wedding ring, scoffing at it before he heard something from the other side. There was a man and a woman inside, he could tell that much, but the thickness of the door didn't allow him to decipher much more. He lost it when he heard the woman giggle, followed by the man's voice, and then silence… right then, Derek snapped.

"Okay, get the HELL off my wi…"

Derek Stiles flung open the door to see Greg's secretary Sarah seated on the edge of Greg's desk, sharing a kiss with a man that Derek quickly recognized to be her husband. The two of them jumped, startled, and Derek did the same, all of them standing in silence before Sarah spoke, planting her feet on the ground.

"Doctor Stiles? What, are you doing here?" she asked, her husband casting an annoyed stare at him.

"Oh, Sarah… I'm so sorry, I thought that Greg was in here.." he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

She giggled. "That's okay, Derek.. you just kind of, startled me, I guess.. Oh! You remember my husband Dan…"

Derek nodded and outstretched his hand towards the man, who took it and exchanged a quick smile with him before standing back next to his wife.

"Sarah – I actually need to speak to Dr. Kasal immediately, its very urgent.. can you tell me where he is?"

She smiled, a hint of concern in her bright blue eyes. "Oh, he's got an appointment scheduled today and he's with her right now.."

"_Yeah, that "appointment" is with my wife.." _Derek thought to himself, trying to stay calm.

Sarah walked around behind Greg's desk and read his calendar. "Looks like they're in room 483. I presume you remember where it is?"

Derek nodded, forcing a smile. "Sure do – thanks, Sarah.. it was nice to see you both again, sorry about.. you know, the barging.."

They all shared an awkward chuckle before Derek waved them goodbye and shut the door behind him, shuddering briefly at the thought of what he could've walked in on if he would've arrived later.

-------------------

**Room 483**

Gentle knocking was heard from the other side of the door, before Angie called out "Come in!" to Greg, who was waiting for her to change into a hospital gown. He smiled gently and walked into the room, glancing sympathetically as he saw her playing with her engagement ring, spinning it around and around on her finger as she bit her lip, trying not to cry. The air conditioning in the room stung softly at her legs which were exposed from the knee down, swinging back and forth off the edge of the examination table of which she was perched. Placing her ring back in its rightful position, Angie gripped hard onto the two corners of the padded table directly to her sides, stopping her legs from swinging as she looked over at Greg, tears pooling in her green eyes.

"Thank you, Greg… for being here with me.." she choked out.

He smiled warmly, his hazel eyes shining. "You don't have to thank me, Angie…" he said, patting her hand twice before he sat down in a stool just to the left of her, putting him right at face level with her. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and she rested her head on his arm, before she began to cry again. Gently he rubbed her arm and shhshed her.

"Angie, this is supposed to be a happy thing… why are you crying?"

Sniffling, she sat up.

"I just.. I just feel… so, horrible!" she sobbed, slightly calming herself down before continuing. "I mean, I _should_ be happy about this, and deep down I really am… but this is the first time I'm going to get to see our baby, and Derek isn't here – he doesn't even k-k-know that, I'm.. I'm pregnant!"

She dropped her head back onto Greg shoulder, who did his best to console her from the stool.

"Angie – I know that you told me what Derek said… but you can't honestly believe that he wouldn't be happy about this… do you?"

She was quiet momentarily. "I, honestly don't know, Greg… I really don't, and I'm too scared to find out."

He nudged his shoulder, motioning for her to sit up.

"Listen. All this sneaking around is really putting a lot of stress on you, and therefore, on your baby. I don't mean to put this so harshly, but you're not just thinking about yourself anymore, and you need to realize that. I mean, you've barely been eating, you haven't been taking the necessary supplements.. I know that it may not sound like a good idea to you, but you either need to tell Derek and let him help you through this, or do a better job of taking care of the two of you until you can figure something else out."

It was like a hard slap in the face, but she had to admit Greg was right. Nodding, she bit her lip slightly.

Just then, a thin, brunette of maybe 30 walked into the room, a clipboard in hand, smiling.

"Angie?" she asked, to which the blonde nodded. "And Greg… how's the family?"

"Oh, just fine Abigail…" Greg replied, smiling. "Angie, this is Abigail Buchanan. She is the head of the OBGYN sector here at Hope, was Cybil's obstetrician, and she absolutely loved her.. you're in good hands.."

Angie forced a smile as she shook hands with the doctor. Though she knew it wouldn't happen, Angie had never wanted Derek with her more in her life.

-------------------

Swiftly, Derek walked down the hallway, thankfully _away_ from Greg's office, still bathing in the awkwardness of the preceding confrontation. He opened the door to the stairwell once more and began to walk down it, this time slowly as he began to run through things in his mind. Racing over to Hope hadn't exactly given him much time to think about what he was going to say or do when he found the two of them, and as he walked down step by step, he suddenly wondered if this was all a good idea…

-------------------

For the first time since he found the letter, Tyler Chase picked up his office phone and shakily dialed Leslie's cell phone, his stomach twisting into a giant knot when he heard it begin to ring. His slightly hopeful state fell to disappointment as her voicemail picked up, her cheery voice asking the caller to leave a message, which he did.

"_Hey Les, it's me.. Look, I know you said not to call, but there's really been a big misunderstanding between us, and I really need to talk to you... honey, I miss you so much, and I'm seriously begging you to just, come back home – I promise, we can get everything sorted out, I just need a chance to talk to you. If I have to scour Angeles Bay until I find you, I'll do it, but I just wish that even if its for a little bit, you meet me at home tonight? Leslie, I love you, and I'm so sorry... just please call me, or come by. Please.. I love you honey, and I hope you know that. Hopefully, I'll talk to you soon.. Bye"_

Gently placing the receiver back into its cradle, Tyler sighed, holding his face in his hands as he took deep breaths in and then out, trying to not worry himself too much. She would be back. She would come home tonight and he would talk to her and sort everything out, and things would go back to normal – well, maybe not right away, but they loved each other, and they would work at it just like every other couple out there…

…right?

Heaving another big sigh, Tyler stood up from his desk and walked out into the hallway, traveling a short distance before he was standing outside Derek and Angie's office, jiggling the locked door handle.

"_Where the hell are they, it's almost five o'clock!"_

On to his mental "Plan B", Tyler walked down to the on-call room, expecting to see the normal sight of the two curled up sleeping together on one of the cots, but was surprised again when he found it empty as well. Briefly, Tyler thought about going down to the lab and conversing with Victor for awhile, but he shook that notion right out of his head. He really must be going crazy…

Unfortunately for him, he hadn't felt the need to come up with a "Plan C", so he didn't. Instead, he just turned around and paced back towards his office, where he closed the door behind him and laid down on the couch. After he, Derek, and Angie had almost fallen asleep in the meeting earlier that afternoon, Sidney had told them all to go to bed, which Tyler did right then and there on the couch in his office. Curled up with Leslie's purple blanket, he realized that it had never taken him so much strength not to lose it.

-------------------

Dr. Buchanan tightened the blood pressure cuff around Angie's left arm and began to inflate it as the three occupants in the room sat in silence, waiting for her to finish.

"Ooh, it's a _bit_higher than what I'd like it to be… about 129/87, but still within the safe limit.. let me check your pulse.."

Angie looked over to Greg who raised an accusing eyebrow from the stool, causing her to roll her eyes back at him as she heard him chuckle.

"Hmm.. its about 96 right now. Angie, are you under any stress lately?"

Angie froze. "A little, but nothing too serious."

Greg cleared his throat obnoxiously, to which Angie rolled her eyes again, glaring over at him.

"Okay, okay.. yes, I've been under a lot of stress lately. See, I haven't told my husband about the baby yet.."

Abigail's eyes widened slightly. "Ohh, I understand…" she said, chuckling. "Afraid he's going to freak out?"

Angie relaxed slightly. Cybil was right, this woman was amazing.

"Exactly.." she replied, giggling just a bit. "I'm terrified to know how he's going to react…"

The doctor laughed. "Don't you worry – I didn't tell my husband for the first almost two months that I was pregnant… I just thank God I wasn't showing when I finally did tell him!"

Now more loosened up, Angie began to converse more freely with the doctor, explaining the symptoms she'd been experiencing, and the timeline of which they had progressed. Abigail scribbled everything Angie said into her notebook, adding a comment on how it was both a blessing and a curse when doctors and nurses got pregnant, because they didn't have to be told twice, but also assumed the worst.

Standing up from her rolling stool, Dr. Buchanan pulled the stirrups out from where they had retracted into the table, locking them into place as she pulled a sheet over Angie's knees and had her lay back against the inclined table and relax. Knowing what was coming next, Greg's eyes widened as he scooted his stool back to nearly behind Angie's head, wanting nothing to do with what was going on at the other end of the table.

"Hmm…" she said, flipping through Angie's file, causing her to sit up in confusion.

"Is something wrong, Doctor?"

She smiled. "Oh, no – I was just going to tell you how far you were along, but I seem to have left the blood test results back in my office.. I'm so sorry! It's three floors up, I'll be back in just a few minutes.."

And with that, the doctor turned and left the room. As she walked briskly down the hallway, she passed a young man dressed in scrubs from Caduceus, failing to pay him any attention as she rushed back to her office to get the needed paperwork.

In the exam room, Angie began to cry again, much to Greg's displeasure.. he never was good at comforting crying women.

Her head was resting against the back of the bed which was on so steep of an incline, that she was almost sitting up. Tears rolled down her face as Greg grabbed onto her right hand, squeezing it tightly as he gently shhshed her again, knowing nothing else that would comfort her at the moment.

"It's going to be okay, Angie…" was all he could manage to say, earning him a small scoff and more tears. "She'll be back soon, we'll get you checked out, and you can go.. okay?"

She nodded, tears still in her eyes.

Little did either of them know, the next person to walk through that door wouldn't be_ her_ doctor..

-------------------

Derek slowed his pace as he stopped in front of room 483, knowing that only a wooden door stood between him and the two of them. Still unsure of what to do or say, he took in a very deep breath, silently trying to prepare himself for the worst, but knowing that he never could. As he placed a handle on the door, he pushed it open to see Greg holding Angie's hand, stroking the top of her head lightly as she dried tears from her face. Both of their eyes widened at the sight of him, completely shocked that he was standing before them.

"What, in the hell, is going on…" he said coldly, his voice deep as he shot a look over to Greg, making the surgeon shift uneasily in his seat.

"Derek?!" Angie shrieked, sitting upright as she removed her feet from the stirrups and held around her waist, shaking uncontrollably.

He paid her no mind at the moment, turning back to Greg.

"Let go, of my wife.." he snarled bluntly, glaring at Greg's hand which clasped Angie's tightly still. Instantly, Greg dropped it and stood up off of the stool, hands in the air.

"Derek, you need to calm down…"

"I need to _calm down_?! Yeah, because I'm going to calm down when you're sneaking around with my WIFE!"

Silence flooded the room before Derek saw Angie cover her face with her left hand, shaking her head back and forth. The tension between them immediately loosened as Greg paused for a minute, before he started to howl with laughter, much to Derek's confusion and frustration.

"You.. you actually.._ahahaha_, think that, hahaha.. I'm.. sleeping, hahahhaha with, Angie?! Derek?! Have you lost your damn mind?!?! Hahahaah!"

Angie shot a look over at him in defense. "Thank you, so much Greg, really – that does make me feel a whole lot better.."

He continued laughing, wiping the tears from his eyes. "No o-offense, Angie.. hahaaha… I just, oh man… I gotta go sit down for a minute!"

Greg stumbled towards the door, holding his sides as he continued to laugh, his howl dying down to a sporadic chuckle.

"I'll tell Abigail to wait. Angie, I think you know what you have to do…" Greg said solemnly, before beginning to chuckle again. "Oh man… that's so great.. hahah.."

The door closed behind him, leaving Derek and Angie alone. Derek stood just in front of the door, hands planted on his hips as he looked at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with his wife, whom he knew was crying.

"Derek…" she said softly, failing to solicit a response from him. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

He looked up at her sharply, causing her to cower slightly under his disapproving glare.

"I should ask you the same thing, Angela.."

Derek only called her that when he really meant business – she knew that much..

"Will you come over here, please?" she asked softly, growing nervous when she watched him remain planted in the same position. Slowly, the angry expression washed off of his face and he dropped his arms to his sides, walking over toward the table on which she sat. Looking down at the floor, he stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked slowly over to her.

"I read your message…" he admitted quietly, watching her sit up straight out of the corner of his eye as he walked towards her more.

"Well, obviously, if you showed up here…" she retorted, crossing her arms. "What did you think was going on?"

Derek stopped just a few feet from her and looked up, staring directly into her worried green eyes.

"I thought… that you were, cheating… on me.." he muttered, voice barely over a whisper.

Angie sighed, shaking her head. "Derek Stiles, what am I going to do with you?"

He chuckled softly. "I don't know.."

"Come here.." she beckoned softly, cocking her head slowly to the left.

Derek had never been real quick to pick up on things, and that's why when he _finally_ noticed that Angie was in a hospital gown and was sporting a bandage from where she had blood drawn, all she could do was giggle at him for failing to not notice it earlier. He quickly closed the distance between the two of them, pressing himself against her dangling legs as he looked her over concerned.

Gently, she lifted his chin up and locked eyes with him.

"Derek… I would never, ever, do something like that to you…" she said sternly, watching as his chocolate eyes reflected nothing but relief. "I love you, and I'm with you forever – nobody will ever come between us.."

"You know, somewhere deep down, I really knew that…" he admitted, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry, Angie…"

She gently wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his, relaxing when she felt him hug her back tightly.

"Oh, Derek… I'm the one that owes you an apology…" she said, muffled in his shoulder.

He pulled back to look at her questioningly, hands slipping from her sides to her hands, where he intertwined his fingers with hers, squeezing tightly.

"I lied to you, Derek…"

He raised an eyebrow, body still resting against her legs as he watched her look down shamefully.

"I don't have the stomach flu… it's something else, but I can't tell you…"

Derek's heart dropped right down into his stomach.

"What do you mean you can't tell me?" he asked softly, watching as tears began to form in her eyes again, catching one with his finger as it fell down her cheek.

"I can't… I just, can't…"

"Angie…" he said, wiping more tears from her face before he hugged her again. "You should know, there's nothing you can't tell me… I promise, I won't be mad, if that's what you think…"

She pulled out of his hug, wiping her face and grabbing onto his hands again, feeling his expression grow even more worrisome as he clutched onto her hands, pulling them against his chest.

"Angie… is it something, bad? Are you really sick?"

She shook her head.

"So, you're okay?"

She nodded, sniffling.

He smiled. "Then, that's all that matters…"

Angie looked up at him, forcing a smile.

"Now will you please tell me what's going on?"

The smile wiped off of her face as she let another sob go, looking over to her left and away from him.

"Angie…"

Listening to the seriousness in his tone, Angie turned her gaze back to him, blinking to be able to see him through her tears.

"Why would you ever feel like you have to keep things from me…?" he asked, his voice cracking.

She paused. "Because, Derek… you'll hate me! You'll be so unhappy…"

Now it was Derek's turn to pause. "If you didn't cheat on me, and you're not terminally ill, then there's nothing you could say that would make me be unhappy…"

Angie turned her bright green eyes back to his brown ones. Looking deep into them, she could feel his love and concern for her wash through her entire body. But still, she said nothing. Finally, Derek broke the silence with a gentle shuddering sigh – through his glasses, Angie could tell that he was trying to hold back tears… that she was hurting him.

Kissing him softly on his lips, she gripped onto his hands tightly and pulled them into her lap, rubbing her thumbs over the backs of his hands. Finally, she brought her gaze back up to his, which was still full of concern.

"You're absolutely right. I apologize for keeping this from you, but I was just… scared."

The last word came out as barely a whisper. Derek watched her struggle to fight back another round of tears, which she did successfully. His hands still intertwined with hers and resting gently in her lap, he never broke his stare with her, trying to figure out what she could possibly need to tell him.

"I guess, the best way to put this, is just to come out and say it…" she started, slightly trailing off before becoming silent again.

He squeezed her hands twice gently, smiling. "It's okay sweetheart – whatever you need to tell me, you know I'll be here for you… okay?"

Feeling nothing but sincerity in his stare, his words, and his smile, Angie breathed a sigh of relief, smiling herself. She locked herself in a loving stare with him, gripping his hands slightly harder for support as she opened her mouth.

"Derek…"

A knock was heard at the door, and Greg peeked his head in, still unsure of what Derek thought of him. He saw Angie sitting on the edge of the table and Derek pressed against her dangling legs, the two holding hands and staring at him.

"I'm sorry – I didn't want to interrupt anything… Abigail just got back from her office and wanted to know if you were ready…"

Derek looked at Angie confused, but her eyes remained fixed on Greg.

"I'll send Derek out when we're done talking… there's something, I need to tell him…"

Greg's face lit up and Angie returned his smile.

"It's not "I'm sleeping with Greg", is it?" Greg said, beginning to laugh again.

The pair's expression turned to evil as they both glowered at him, before Greg realized he wasn't being even remotely funny to them at the moment.

"Tough crowd…" he said, backing out of the door. "No rush, Angie… let us know.."

And with that, the door to the room clicked shut. Derek shook his head before returning his attention to Angie, squeezing her hands again. This was it.

"Derek…" she started again, looking down at their clasped hands.

"Angie..?" he questioned softly, causing her to pick up her head again.

Chuckling with nervousness, she continued.

"Derek, I'm… uh… heh, um.. I'm.. oh God.. haha. -- uh.."

Watching Angie stutter was usually slightly amusing to Derek, but this time, the suspense was killing him. He chortled once and raised his eyebrows at her, causing her to realize that she needed to just get it over with.

Exhaling, she looked him straight in the eyes and smiled warmly as she slightly cocked her head on it's side, the way she did when she was genuinely happy.

"Derek… you're -- going to be a daddy…"

Angie watched as Derek continued to stare at her, before what she said _finally_ registered in his brain. Though she loved him, her husband wasn't always the quickest person on the planet. After blinking hard once, his eyes shot wide open and his mouth dropped agape just a crack. He was silent, which drew the smile off of Angie's face slowly as she watched him, waiting for him to say something… anything.

"…you're, pregnant?"

_Anything but that._

Angie nodded, her expression fretful. Still silent, Derek squeezed onto her hands gently, looking down. She couldn't help the tears from falling as he said nothing to her, knowing that this was all her fault for forgetting that one stupid pill…

His face out of sight, Angie heard him softly sniffle, which surprised her. After several moments of them just holding hands in the silence, Derek raised his head up to look at her, tears streaming down his cheeks. Angie's eyes widened slightly at the sight – not due to the tears, but because Derek was smiling harder than she had ever seen him smile before. In an instant, the look of worry vanished from her eyes, replaced by a happy giggle.

Derek chuckled as well, letting go of her hands as he backed up a few small steps in surprise, laughing as he continued to gently sniffle. He removed the glasses from his nose and wiped his face, still in disbelief as he looked back and forth around the room, trying to make sense of the news. Setting the frames back on his nose, Derek looked at his wife who was still crying as well, before he spoke.

"We're.. having, a _baby_!?" he exclaimed, to which she nodded her head, still half laughing and half crying. Derek grabbed her hand and pulled her off of the exam table and into his arms, the two of them clutching onto each other as pure happiness and relief flooded their senses. He couldn't help but continue to chuckle as he pulled out of the hug, kissing Angie over and over as she returned his giggles, mentally kicking herself for not having told him sooner.

"So, I'm guessing you're not mad?" she asked, laughing at the statement after.

He smiled and kissed her again, his whole body shaking like crazy.

"Angie.." he started, picking her up gently and placing her back up onto the edge of the table. He rested his hands on the edge on either side of her legs, looking into her beautiful eyes, which were shining with happy tears.

Derek exhaled. "You're really serious… you're… _pregnant_?" he asked, smiling at the mere sound of himself saying the word.

She nodded, smiling that famous 10,000 watt smile he loved so much.

"Yes honey, I'm serious…" she said giggling.

"You mean, that's my baby right here..?" he asked, placing a hand on her stomach.

"That's your baby, all right.."

Another happy tear made its way down Derek's face as he held a stare with Angie, unable to wipe the smile off of his mouth. Kissing her again, he pulled back and repeated it.

"I'm, going to be a dad…" he whispered, before throwing his arms around her again, laughing.

Angie relaxed in Derek's arms, the weight of the world lifted off of her shoulders.

"But, seriously… you're not mad at me?"

Derek chuckled. "No way Ang! This is.. so, amazing… I'm, ecstatic! We're, going to have a family..." he said, still grinning as he hugged her.

She smiled, face still smushed into his shoulder.

"I have, the most amazing husband in the world… and now, a baby on the way…" she choked out, smiling. Derek pulled out of their hug and kissed her, brushing the hair out of her face as she smiled at him.

"Life doesn't get much better than that, does it?" he asked, to which she shook his head.

Suddenly, the smile disappeared from his face, replaced with a look of mild disappointment.

"Since you knew already, you probably already saw it, didn't you…" he said, his sadness turning back to happy when he watched her shake her head.

"Nope, that's why we're here Derek… go grab the doctor and let's see our baby for the first time."

Smiling lovingly at her, Derek kissed Angie's forehead before he walked outside, where Abigail was waiting patiently. Scanning the area, Derek noticed that Greg had left.

"He had an emergency patient…" she stated, reading his mind before he even said anything. "He said that if you came out and had a smile on your face to give him a call after you got home tonight.."

Derek laughed and extended his hand to her. "Derek Stiles…" he said. "…and you are?"

"Abigail Buchanan. Nice to meet you, Doctor Stiles.."

He held open the door for her and she walked in, smiling at Angie as she walked over and rolled the ultrasound machine out from the corner.

"Oh, and please, call me Derek.." he said.

She smiled. "Okay, Derek. Are you two ready to take a first look at your baby?"

Angie looked over at Derek who nodded reassuringly at her, the pair trading a happy smile.

"Great.." she said. "I just want to check you out real quick first, and then we'll start the ultrasound."

Derek walked over to Angie's side as the doctor retracted the stirrups from the table again, beginning her examination. Grasping her right hand with his right hand and sliding his left arm across her shoulders and behind her neck, Derek kissed Angie's forehead and then her lips as she winced uncomfortably while the doctor did her job.

"I'm so glad you're here…" she whispered, smiling as she teared up again. "I really didn't want you to miss this…"

He chuckled. "Well, I guess it's a good thing that I jumped to insane conclusions, isn't it?" he joked, to which she laughed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the both of us owe Greg an apology…"

He nodded, before turning serious.

"How could you possibly think that I would be upset about something like this?"

She paused.

"Is it okay if we talk about this later on, when, we're at home?" she asked. "I'll tell you, it's just.."

"…not the right time, don't worry – that's fine, Ang.." he said, kissing her cheek.

"Okay Angie, everything looks like its progressing wonderfully.." Dr. Buchanan said, pulling off her gloves and throwing them in the trash. "Let's take a look and see what we've got here.."

Derek and Angie looked at each other and smiled, completely overwhelmed with happiness as the doctor fired up the ultrasound machine, and sat down on the stool.

"Gah!" Angie yelped as Abigail squirted some (very cold) gel on her stomach, to which her and Derek laughed.

"Sorry – I forgot to warn you…" she said as she placed the wand on her belly, rolling it slightly.

Angie grasped Derek's hand, feeling the rim of his glasses rest against the side of her face, as both of them stared at the screen. They listened intently as the doctor pointed out various things in Angie's body, before the sonar stopped moving around.

"And this…" she said, zooming in slightly with a few clicks of the keyboard. "..is going to be the newest Stiles.." she said warmly. Clicking the keyboard again, she froze the view on the screen and removed the wand from Angie's belly, wiping off the jelly as she covered her back up.

"I'll leave you two alone for a moment.."

"Thank you, Doctor Buchanan…" Derek said, never taking his eyes off the screen.

As the door closed shut, Angie and Derek sat in silence, heads still resting against each other's as they looked at their baby.. or like the doctor had put it…

"…a Stiles.." Angie said softly, giggling just a bit.

Derek pulled his head off of hers and stood upright, a perturbed look on his face. His wife looked over at him and dropped her smile in favor of a confused expression.

"What's wrong, Derek?"

He sighed. "I'm going to be an awful father…"

Angie bolted upright. "DEREK! How could you say that?! You're going to be an _amazing_ father!"

He shook his head. "Angie, I can't see it…"

She paused. "What do you mean you can't see it?"

"I mean, I can't SEE IT! I can't see our baby!!" he said, a slight panic in his tone.

Angie giggled, pulling his face into hers and kissing him.

"God, I love you.. you're so cute…" she said, to which he was not amused.

Pulling his arm around her shoulders and holding his other hand close to her chest, Angie explained to him.

"See, the little circle in the middle?" she said, watching as his face lightened up instantly. She too smiled, before huffing slightly.

"… you still don't see it, do you.."

"NO!" he yelped, burying his face into her shoulder, to which she laughed.

"Derek! Pick your head up and look at the screen.." she ordered, to which he complied.

Placing a fingernail on the glass, she tapped it twice. "See this little thing right here? This little dot that kind of looks like.. a peanut?"

"Yes…" he replied, waiting for her to continue.

"…Sweetie, that's_ it_.."

"Oh… OH!" he exclaimed, chuckling. "Well, I saw _THAT_!"

Angie's heart fluttered as she watched Derek tear up again, smiling like crazy.

"Angie...that's, our _baby_.." he said, reluctantly removing his eyes from the screen to look at her.

She kissed him passionately, breaking away after a brief moment.

"I love you, Ang…" he said. "Thank you..."

She smiled and kissed him again.

"I love you too… and even though I hate to say it, we have to go or else we're going to miss our pre-op meeting…" she said, to which Derek groaned.

Changing back into her uniform, Derek helped Angie to her feet and kissed her a few times more, smiling as the doctor walked back into the room, handed Angie some prenatal vitamins, some informational readings, and the ultrasound photos, and set up their next appointment.

Derek and Angie walked from Hope hand in hand, unable to chat about anything else or for that matter, to stop smiling and giggling.

Just when things had looked their worst, the sunshine had forced its way through the dark clouds, shining down and blessing the two with the one thing that they had both wanted with one another since they had fallen in love:

_A family._

* * *

**Dear FF community:**

**MAN you guys are ALL ABOUT the doom and gloom! Reading the reviews from the last chapter depressed the hell out of me! Yes, the last chapter had things falling apart just a bit (and things are still not fixed with L&T), but we all have to know that life throw major curveballs, and there are points in time where you honestly think that its never going to get better.. otherwise, life would be monotonous and predictable. Sometimes the oddest chain of events leads us to the greatest of things.. (proved by Angie hiding her pregnancy so greg sent her an email, which ended up freaking derek out to where he went and looked for her, making him able to learn about the pregnancy and be there for the first ultrasound?) While there are some relationship dilemmas that cannot be fixed, an undying love for the person youre with can fix even the deepest of troubles... just like what D&A share! See, she freaked out over nothing! Now they can start their 9 month long journey, stress free, and hit the pregnancy bumps together. I can promise, this won't be the end of trouble -- hell, its only the beginning, but such is life. **

**Sorry if i have depressed you all, but I figured that it was slightly up to me to restore everyone's faith in humanity.. haha. **

**-TCGeek. **

**Anyway. That is all. I hope that I have cheered some of you up here! Yay, Derek's excited to be a daddy - didn't we all know he would be? **

**Yay! Baby! See you all next chapter!  
**

**Okay, this was long and I'm tired. **


	11. Coming to Terms

**Okay, kiddies. This is a relatively short chapter, which also bounces around just a bit. This is directly after Angie's doctor appointment for Derek and Angie, but the Tyler portion of the story is set two days after where Derek and Angie are right now. I know its a bit confusing, but don't worry - it'll all come together in the end... (do you ever doubt me, really:D )**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Derek and Angie silently climbed into his Jeep, buckling their seatbelts. Angie glanced over at Derek inquisitively when he didn't start the car immediately, taking her hand in his instead as he looked out the windshield and over the Angeles Bay cityscape, smiling warmly. 

Angie squeezed his hand twice in succession, and he slowly averted his gaze from the city, and over to her, his eyes sparkling as he chuckled softly.

"…You know, performing surgery is the absolute last thing I want to do right now…" he said, barely above a whisper, chuckling as he looked down at their clasped hands, running his thumb along the back of hers and over her wedding rings.

Her gaze turned slightly concerned. Derek was rarely ever this calm and quiet, though in that moment, he seemed to be perfectly content just relaxing and smiling.

"Are, you okay, Derek?" she asked softly, turning her body towards him in her seat.

He lifted up his head, eyes wide as his smile grew.

"Oh, I'm just… heh…" he started as he unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed her other hand, bringing them both to his mouth as he planted a small kiss on the backs of them both, expression slightly more serious now.

"…absolutely, elated… I can't, even.. I just.. heh.."

Angie giggled as Derek unbuckled his seatbelt, pulling her into his arms where he held her tightly, stroking her hair.

"I love you, so much…" he said, before pulling away. "I can't believe you're… that we're…"

He smiled, his chocolate eyes shining.

"A _baby_… Angie… **Our** baby…"

She sniffled, smiling as he kissed her hands again, and then her lips.

"I'm so, relieved, that you're happy…" she said, to which he smiled, releasing her hands to hold her face.

"You know that ever since I met you, I wanted to be with you… and ever since we've been together, that I couldn't imagine a future without you…"

Angie sniffled again, tears rolling down her cheeks, wetting Derek's hands as his thumbs rubbed gently across her skin. She reached her left hand up and grabbed onto his, listening as he continued.

"So now that I have my beautiful wife, my dream job, and my deliriously happy life, nothing makes it more perfect than knowing that soon, I'm going to get to raise a baby with the woman I love… I get, to be a daddy…"

She sniffled again as he kissed her.

"You're sure?" she asked. "You're sure that you're not mad that I didn't tell you..?"

His expression grew serious, but seeing that it intimidated her, he lightened up.

"I just don't, know why you would ever feel like you couldn't tell me something – I would hope, that you feel comfortable opening up to me about anything…"

Angie scowled, which made Derek confused, as she hastily pulled on her seatbelt.

"Hmm… you honestly can't think of why I would be upset to tell you that I'm pregnant…?"

Derek was barely paying attention to her, beaming as he clipped the ultrasound of his unborn child onto the visor just above his driver's seat, smiling at it warmly before he turned back to her, suddenly serious.

"No, Angie – I really, don't know why you would feel the need to keep that a secret…"

Angie crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Do the words "Thank God, we're childless" mean anything to you…?" she questioned, to which his eyes widened with remorse.

"Ohhhh…" he said softly, shaking his head. "You mean, you knew…"

"Yep." she interjected. "I was walking out with the results in my hand to tell you, and you said that, and I thought you would freak out on me, so I stuffed them into my pocket and made up something."

Derek hung his head sadly. "Oh Ang – I am, _so_, so sorry… I had no idea…"

"Yeah…" was all Angie could say, looking out the windshield.

"Hey…" he said, as she turned towards him slowly. "It was just hard going from, our newlywed life just to the two of us, to BAM, a three year old twenty-four hours a day… I was just, tired, was all…"

"Well that's what having a baby is all about!" she exclaimed, voice cracking. "You think Max was a handful, wait till your baby wakes you up every three hours!"

"Okay, okay, hang on… slow, down…" he replied, trying to calm Angie down from talking a mile a minute. "Angie – I don't care if I had to not have any sleep at all… it's my baby…! That doesn't bother me – it's just, an adjustment, is all…"

She dropped her scowl. "You're right, Derek – I just, thought that you would be upset.. I'm sorry…"

"I understand – it was big news for you to find out too… I'm just glad that everything is out in the open, and you can let me be here for you now… I'm excited to share this with you… to, be a part of this amazing experience…" he said, pulling on his seatbelt as he started the car.

Angie turned her gaze up to the visor, smiling as she saw the picture of their "peanut".

Reaching around his shoulders and pulling his head towards her, she kissed him lovingly as the two of them smiled.

"I love you honey… and, thank you, so much…" she said, brushing a chunk of hair from his eyes.

He kissed her back.

"I love you too – and I'm going to take good care of you both – please, don't ever worry about that… okay?"

She stopped. "You promise?"

He smiled at her, in that smile that melted her from the inside out. "I promise... I'm your protector, always…"

She believed his every word.

"You know…" she started, as he pulled the car in reverse, staying in the parking spot as he turned towards her.

"For the first time, I can actually admit that I'm so, excited, to be pregnant…"

He grinned from ear to ear, backing the car out of the parking space.

"You mean you weren't excited before?"

She paused, reflecting.

"No, it's not that I wasn't excited… it was a big shock, is all…"

He nodded silently, pulling the car into drive.

"It just – didn't feel official, until I was able to share it with you…" she admitted, giggling slightly as he pulled to the exit of Hope, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Well, mommy…" he joked, to which she laughed. "Thank you for telling me, and thank you in advance, for the next nine months."

She rolled her eyes just thinking about it. "Yeah, I'm already almost eight weeks along, so, we're looking at around seven months now… get ready, its going to be a bumpy ride…"

Angie sat back in her seat as Derek laughed, pulling from the parking lot of Hope, driving back with his wife to Caduceus, holding her hand. She rested the other hand on her stomach lightly, smiling as she looked down.

She wasn't quite sure how Derek always managed it, but with him by her side, she knew that everything was going to be okay.

-------------------

**..Two days later..**

BEEEP.

"Leslie – it's me again… this is the third day in a row, and the last day that I'll bother you.. I just, really want for you to come home tonight so I can please talk to you… our place, at eight o'clock tonight. I'm begging you sweetheart, this is a big misunderstanding, and I just want a chance to talk to you, and tell you how much I love you, miss you, and that I'm sorry… so please.. home, tonight, eight pm. This is the last time I'll bug you, so I hope that you'll come. I love you…"

For the third day in a row, Tyler hung up his cell phone, desperate to try to get Leslie to come back home to talk to him. If she were with him, he could explain all about his intended proposal, apologize for all the fights, and try to reassure her that he really did love her more than anything…

…but for now, all he could do was wait.

Apartment silent, Tyler laid in bed and relaxed, alternating that with pacing around, until the chime on the clock struck eight, sending eight bells into the quiet air, signaling the top of the hour. Tyler let a big sigh out as he plopped on the chair that faced the front door, waiting and hoping that she would walk through it, never noticing himself doze off.

When he finally stirred awake, he panicked, hoping that he hadn't missed her. His blue eyes darting towards the clock, he noticed that it was just minutes to midnight – she had declined once again.

Feeling a sting at his eyes, Tyler quickly stood up and walked to the kitchen, pulling on his jacket and grabbing his keys as he walked out the door, determined to bring something else to his mind… something other than sad thoughts of never getting a chance to tell Leslie that he loved her, ever again.

With no place particular to go, Tyler walked and walked, hands in his pockets as the cool spring air blew through his blonde locks, whipping them around his face, to which he paid no mind. He just pressed on, trying to sort out his thoughts as he was forced to think about his life without Leslie in it – something he never thought that he would have to do. The tears in his eyes refused to fall, just collecting enough to blur his vision.

As he arrived in one of the downtown areas, Tyler crossed street after street, reminiscing once again as he stopped in front of the jewelry store where he had bought Leslie's ring. He fingered the box in his pocket as he pressed on, walking farther down the street into the heart of Angeles Bay.

Tyler stopped on the busiest corner of the city and waited as herds of cars passed, no available gap to cross in sight. Letting out a small breath, he turned around to see that he was in front of a small restaurant. Glancing inside, his heart grew heavy as he looked at the different couples, all happy and laughing as they talked with one another and shared hugs and kisses. Knowing that he should probably turn away and quit torturing himself, Tyler kept his gaze turned towards the restaurant, before he spotted a familiar face.

Leslie was standing at the bar, joking with the bartender whom Tyler recognized as a family friend of hers. Dressed in dark jeans and a white fitted tank top with gold designs swirling all over it, Tyler couldn't help but smile gently as he watched her talk and laugh, the sight of her face instantly snapping him out of his depression. Thinking it over for a quick minute, Tyler slowly paced to his right towards the entrance, before he was stopped in his tracks.

A tall man with dark brown hair and bright green eyes came from behind Leslie, slipping his arm around her shoulders. Tyler froze in outrage as he saw her cock her head up and towards him, hugging around his waist as he kissed the side of her head briefly. Biting his lip hard to keep his composure, he tried to turn away but found it impossible, watching as the mystery man stood next to her and they conversed with Leslie's friend behind the bar.

This was the reason she couldn't come home to try to salvage their relationship? Another man? They weren't even officially broken up yet, and here she was, gallivanting around town with some _creep_ while Tyler waited day and night for her to come home.

Anger ripped through his body as he felt pat after pat on the top of his head, quickly realizing that it was raining on him. He paid it no mind as he began to become soaked, watching his worst nightmare unfold before his eyes. Hands clenched into fists and still jammed inside his pockets, water dripped down his face as suddenly, Leslie glanced out the window, the smile on her face disappearing the instant she locked eyes with Tyler. Her mouth dropped open as she looked at his miserably angry expression, looking at him, and then the mystery man, realizing the conclusion he had come to. As she turned her amber eyes back to him once more, she saw nothing, realizing that he had walked off.

Leslie grabbed her jacket and bolted from the bar out into the pouring rain, becoming instantly soaked as she ran down the sidewalk, looking frantically for Tyler in all directions. Quickly realizing he was nowhere to be found, she walked back inside sobbing, collapsing into the arms of her _cousin_ Bradley, as he brought her over to a booth to console her.

* * *

**Uh-oh... TWIST!**

**Yes, I'm evil. Deal. :D **

**And in the words of ITB, no, this is not becoming a Spanish Soap Opera - Derek and Angie are happy, so there is allowed to be a little angst somewhere... because, otherwise the story would be boring boring boring.**

**So, the timeframe isn't too bad, it still makes sense... the later chapters are whats going to get me... eep!**

**I updated this and Hostage because I actually have to take a (very short) break from writing for a bit... i have collectively 600 pages of material to learn by next Friday afternoon, and I really need to get on that... (sigh.. but, such is the college life...)**

**So anyway - all my stuff is up to date for now... (glares at all of you to do the same.. hehe just kidding)**

**Besides my own story, I am dying to read some major DxA fluff. I know ITB is cooking up something for me, but if someone wants to add to that and make me smile EVEN MORE than ITB's will during my crappy week of being a slave to my textbooks, you would make my life. And I mean that.**

**Because, who can ever get enough of Derek and Angie? (I CAN'T!)**

**Anyway - let me know what you thought of this chapter! Please Review, and see you all soon! (if i don't die a bloody, chemistry related death... :D )**


	12. Moving On

**Man, I am an updating FIEND this weekend...**

...probably because all of my plans got cancelled. Eff that, I says.

So, we finally get to progress the story. Sorry that this is a small update, its more of a "progressing the story" kind of chapter, and is kind of a cliffie. Don't hate me :D

So, ffnet has made it VERY difficult for me to just be able to bold my AN's. Now, I have to go in and add my own HTML tags and shit, and this is so not cool. I hope everyone appreciates the amount of work I put into these tags, hehe.

Anyway. ENOUGH BABBLING. CHAPTER!

* * *

"Wow, I had no idea all of this was going on, Leslie…" her cousin Bradley mused, his arm still around her shoulders as she cried. 

"I..I know, I'm sorry…" she sniffled, pulling away from him as she wiped her eyes with the napkin on the table. "It's just, overwhelming.."

He nodded his head, bright green eyes reflecting sympathy for his favorite cousin.

"But hey!" she interjected, snapping out of it as she forced a laugh. "I only get to see you tonight, because of your family, and work, and you living on the other side of the country and all… I don't need to be ruining our night with this stuff…"

"No, no, no…" he reassured, smiling at her. "I just wish that one of the times I would've been in town before, I would've actually gotten to MEET Tyler so that he wouldn't have just thought you were dating someone else…"

Leslie stifled a small sob, biting her lip gently as she nodded, looking down at her hands.

"Les…" he said gently, to which she picked up her head. "I think you know what you have to do…"

Her brown eyes still full of tears, she stared at him silently. Seeing that he was going to have to tell her what to do, he rolled his eyes and chuckled, turning to his side in the booth so he could face her directly.

"Listen – everyone goes through hard times, it's what relationships are all, about… and just from the way you talk about him, I know you love him Les… I _know _you do…"

She nodded, continuing to listen to his explanation.

"…and, maybe what you needed from each other was some space, because that's understandable. But, you can't keep running away… If you're ready to end it, then go end it instead of dragging him along. But, if not…"

Bradley placed a hand on her shoulder, to which his cousin looked up at him miserably.

"If not, then go run out into the pouring rain right now, find him, and go home and talk it through."

Pausing for a moment, Leslie suddenly smiled before she threw her arms around Bradley, kissing him on the cheek.

"This is why you're my favorite cousin…" she whispered to him, to which he laughed.

"I'll be back in town next month – hopefully I'll finally meet Tyler then?"

She smiled as she pulled on her jacket, buttoning it up quickly.

"I think that sounds like a great idea…"

Leslie gave one more quick hug to him before she waved goodbye, smiling as she bolted from the restaurant into the pouring rain, in search of Tyler.

-------------------

Derek sighed as he and Angie walked into their apartment, tossing his keys onto the small table near the door.

"I, am so… tired…" Angie groaned, kicking off her shoes as she walked back to the bedroom and flopped onto the middle of the mattress.

Right on her heels, Derek walked in and pulled her off the bed as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"Oh, no you don't… not yet.." he said, smiling as he dragged her out of the bedroom.

Planting her heels into the ground, the two stopped as Derek whirled around to see Angie looking very angry with him.

"Derek, this isn't funny. I'm tired. I want, to go to bed."

He stepped towards his stubborn wife and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking over the top of the rims of his glasses at her.

"You're not going to bed until the two of you eat something."

Angie groaned, rolling her eyes to which he chuckled.

"Roll your eyes at me all you want…" he joked, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the kitchen. "You're growing a baby and I want it to be healthy!"

"Derekkkkk…" she whined, stomping her feet as he dragged her along and sat her down in a chair at the table.

It didn't matter how big the temper tantrum was that Angie threw while she was waiting for Derek to make her dinner, he just kept smiling the same goofy smile that had been on his face all day. Suddenly, a plate was shoved in front of her face, to which she crossed her arms and sat back in her chair, refusing to eat it.

"I'm, tired!" she snapped, rubbing her face exhaustedly.

Derek sat down next to her, his smile long gone as he looked at her sternly.

"Angie, I know. I'm tired too, and if it were up to me, I would be asleep right now with you next to me. But, we have someone more important to worry about now, and it's important that someone has three meals a day." he explained gently.

"I can't ever sleep right after I eat… you know that…" she whined, reluctantly picking up her fork and poking at her food before beginning to eat.

Derek smiled as he took a bite of his own food. Soon they were both done and he cleared their plates, washed them in the sink, and then stuck them in the dishwasher. Locking the door and turning off all the lights, he walked back into the bedroom where Angie was already dressed and sitting up in bed, reading a packet of information from the doctor, her eyes big and worried.

"What's the matter Ang?" he asked, pulling off his scrub shirt in favor of an old t-shirt.

"I'm just, looking at the huge list of things I'm not allowed to do…" she grumbled sadly, flipping the page to find a continuation of the list.

Flopping into bed, Derek cuddled up next to her and rested his head on her shoulder, reading the list as well.

"Wow Angie, you're right… this does stink…" he whispered softly.

Suddenly Angie shrieked. Derek was in front of her in an instant.

"Angie! What's wrong, is it, the baby? Are you in pain, what?!"

Much to his dismay, Angie grabbed his hands, stopping him from checking her over.

"I'm fine…" she replied reassuringly. "Are you going to jump like that EVERY time I make a noise?"

Derek was not amused by her poking fun at him and returned to her side, his arms crossed.

Angie huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face. "I was freaking out about this…"

She held the packet out to him, pointing at the word "Caffeine" underneath the "Don't" heading.

"Ooh…" Derek mumbled, letting out a low whistle. "Coffee, and chocolate.. that's like, a one-two punch for you, huh?" he asked, to which Angie began to cry.

Dumbfounded that something like that could make her cry, Derek just sat there and rubbed his wife's back as she fell into his lap, sobbing. Eventually her anguished cries subsided, leaving Derek to realize just how much Angie loved chocolate cake.

"Hey…" he cooed gently, rolling her over onto her back, her head resting in his lap as he gently stroked her long, blonde hair. This calmed Angie down and she half-smiled at him, eyes still full of tears.

"Listen…" he started, grabbing her hand as he continued to run the wispy locks through her hair. "If my baby can't have something, and in turn, my wife, can't have something…"

He paused, almost unable to believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"…Then I won't have it either."

Angie shot into an upright position, staring at him with wide, surprised, green eyes.

"What?! Derek, no…" she stammered out, still slightly startled. "If you wouldn't have married me, I'm pretty sure that coffee would've been next in line!"

Both she and Derek laughed as he turned towards her, sitting Indian-style as he took her hands in his.

"I'm serious, honey.." he whispered, smiling. "It's the least I can do for you carrying our baby… I want us to go through this together…"

Angie leaned forward and kissed him, smiling as she threw the packet onto her nightstand and laid down on her back, still staring at him.

"You're, wonderful…" she stated, smiling. "I can't believe you would do something like that for me…"

He smiled, setting his glasses on the nightstand as he rolled on his side, facing her, pulling up her shirt just enough so that his hand could rest gently on her stomach. Angie smiled, placing hers on top of it as he moved it back and forth, pressing gently.

"What are you doing?" she asked sweetly, smiling still.

"Trying to feel our baby…"

"…you know that's not going to happen for awhile, right?"

Angie watched as her husband's grin turned instantly into a mope.

"How long?"

She mused for a moment, unable to find an answer. "I really don't know, honey… But if it'll make you feel better, you can check every day…" she joked, giggling softly.

"Okay!" he replied, turning onto his side as he flipped off his lamp.

"Derek, I was kidd--.."

"I know you were, but it was a good idea. I'll look again tomorrow…"

Angie grumbled, still lying on her back as Derek laughed at her frustration with him.

"If you _really_ want to feel it, you can just--…"

"…You're disgusting…"

Now it was Angie's turn to giggle as she turned off her lamp and rolled over, hugging Derek until he flipped over and gave into her cuddling, kissing her on the forehead.

"Goodnight Angie… and goodnight, uh…" he said, his hand now resting on her stomach.

"…what do we call it?" he asked.

"Hmm…" she replied, before breaking into a smile, turning her head up to look at him.

"How about, 'peanut'?"

Derek chuckled. "Peanut it is."

He sat up and kissed her stomach, whispering goodnight to their baby before kissing her lips as they cuddled.

A few minutes later, they remained in silence, until…

"Angie..?" Derek whispered, shaking her slightly.

"Hmm, Derek…" she moaned softly, half asleep.

"Are you excited to be a mom?" he asked, voice still hushed.

She rolled over slowly and hugged around his torso, resting her head against his.

"I can't wait… are you excited to be a dad?"

He smiled. "With the exception of you, I've never wanted something more in my life."

Angie cocked her head up and sighed contently, kissing him on the cheek as they both smiled, right before drifting fast asleep.

-------------------

It was still raining and Tyler was soaked, his depression over losing Leslie making him drag instead of picking up his pace. He gloomily walked the streets of the downtown area, hands in his pockets as his gaze remained diverted towards the ground. Suddenly…

"…Oh!"

Tyler and a woman had run directly into one another, her purse dropping from her grasp and onto the wet sidewalk. He bent over and did his best to dry it off, before handing it to her, a forced smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry – I should've been watching where I was going…" he muttered, to which she smiled. As he picked up his head, he was looking directly into the eyes of a beautiful blonde, her blue eyes sparkling as she smiled.

"No, its my fault…" she replied, hoisting her umbrella up until it was covering the two of them.

"Thanks…" Tyler said, smiling for real now. "I went on a walk and it started raining, hence why I'm now soaked…"

"That's no good…" she replied, still smiling. "I'm Amber…"

"Tyler."

"Listen, since you're alone and you look kinda bummed… can I buy you a drink?" she asked, blue eyes hopeful and still gleaming beautifully against the lights of the city.

Tyler smiled, chuckling softly. "I appreciate it, and it's nice to meet you, but, I probably should get going…" he mumbled, to which she nodded.

"Oh, okay… just, go get dry, alright?" she joked, giggling as Tyler did the same.

"I will… thanks again…"

And with that, Amber pulled her umbrella away from Tyler and over her own head, walking down the sidewalk in her stiletto boots and black wrap dress. Watching her walk away, it suddenly dawned on Tyler that he no longer had anything holding him back.

"Wait!" he called, running down the sidewalk to catch up to her, smile on his face.

Tyler took the umbrella and held it for the two of them as they walked down the street and into the bar on the corner.

-------------------

Way too many drinks later, Amber and Tyler shared a cab back to her apartment, on the other side of town from his. Barely able to stand, the blonde woman wobbled with each step as Tyler walked her upstairs, all of her weight slung on him as they cackled quietly about things that weren't even funny. They ended up at her door with tears in their eyes from laughing, where she pushed him inside and shut the door, still giggling as she turned on the lights. Finally somewhat dry, Tyler plopped down on her couch and closed his eyes, the room spinning.

"Uggh…" he groaned, covering his face with his hands. "I haven't drank that much in SO, long…"

He felt the cushions shift as Amber's weight dropped down next to him, her hands running through his damp, blonde locks.

"I.. had, a greeaat, time, with you… Tyler…" she mumbled, to which he smiled. After fighting with Leslie for what had seemed like forever, part of him had almost forgot what it was like to just have fun.

"Me, too…" he replied slowly.

All he could do was watch as she rose to her feet, untying the bow on her wrap dress and slinking it off to stand in front of him in a matching pink bra and underwear. His eyes widened as she straddled his lap, kissing his neck softly as her hands worked to undo the buttons on his shirt.

Tyler closed his eyes as he felt her hot breath on his neck, giving him a feeling that he hadn't felt for a long time. Within minutes his shirt was undone and off of him, her warm hands running along his bare chest as she continued to kiss him.

Somewhere in his mind this was going against his better judgment, and he knew that, mostly because he couldn't deny how much he still loved Leslie.

But unaware of what he was really doing due to extreme inebriation, Tyler ignored his 'better judgment' as he rose to his feet and picked Amber up in his arms, wrapping her legs around the back of him. Flipping off the light on the way, Tyler moaned softly as Amber's lips continued kissing his neck and chest, the two of them walking back towards her bedroom – shutting the door behind them.

If Leslie could move on so fast… then so could he.

-------------------

**2:49 a.m.**

Leslie's amber eyes stared at the digital clock, fixed on the same point they had been for the past almost three hours. Hugging her pillow she sighed, knowing that the bars were now closed.

Pulling the blankets off of her, Leslie sat up and looked around. It felt good to be home in hers and Tyler's bed, something she had missed for so long while staying elsewhere… but what she missed more, was when Tyler was in bed next to her.

Wondering where he could've possibly gone, Leslie picked up her cell and called him, noticing quickly that his phone was still off as it sent her to voicemail.

She browsed through her contacts and decided to call Derek, hopeful that maybe Tyler had come over to their place… but before the phone could ring, she hung up, feeling guilty for waking him and Angie in the middle of the night.

It had finally stopped raining, Leslie noticed, as she peered out the window of their bedroom, moping as she waited for Tyler's car to pull in the driveway.

* * *

Beginning to worry, Leslie curled back up in bed, hugging onto his pillow again as she inhaled the soothing scent of him. Still waiting, she drifted off to sleep unknowingly, hoping that he would come home soon.

* * *

**Repeat after me. "Tyler, you're SUCH a man whore..." **

Damn right he is. ::Sigh:: What will happen next?!?!

Oh, btw.. ITB, if you mention ONE THING about "Peanut" in the review, I will ban you for life. FOR LIFE:)

Anyway, I'll see you next chapter! ****


	13. Grandparents

******Okay, and so forth goes FCL!**

Not a lot to say about this chapter, except that its funny and you should read it. Word.

Rachelle (c) VGCG

Enjoy!

* * *

"Bzzt…Bzzt…Bzzt…" 

"Unggh…"

_SLAM, SLAM, SLAM._

Silence. Beautiful, silence.

"Mmmph… Dereeekkk…"

"…what?"

"If you put your fist through the alarm clock, you're buying a new one…"

Derek chuckled and rolled over to face his wife, his smiling abating when he saw her face contorted into a painful expression.

"Hey…" he said, sitting up as he placed a hand on her forehead. "You're warm – what's up?"

"Mmm… morning sickness, honey.."

He smiled sympathetically. "Are you sure?"

She paused for a moment before her eyes shot open wide, rolling out of bed as she ran to the bathroom, the sound of her retching causing her husband to visibly wince. He pulled the blankets off of himself and walked into the bathroom, taking a seat next to her as she continued to throw up. Rubbing her back soothingly, Derek watched as gradually, Angie settled down, lying down miserably into his lap. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, still rubbing her back as she let out uneven breaths, her body shaking against the cold of the tile.

"Come on sweetie…" he said, gathering her into his arms where he held her close. "Let's go back to bed, okay?"

She nodded and with his help, rose to her feet, walking slowly, hunched over, back to bed, where she crashed onto the mattress, holding her stomach miserably. Derek pulled the blankets over her and kissed her forehead, sadly walking from the room in search of his second love: Coffee.

Reaching into the cabinet with his eyes still half closed, Derek groggily felt around, before he noticed that the coffee can was not where it usually was. Groaning, he walked around the kitchen, checking all the cabinets unsuccessfully. Resting his hands on the counter, his blurred vision noticed a blue canister turned upside down in the sink, a familiar smell wafting from it.

"No… no…!" he whispered, sticking his hand into the sink, where he felt wet coffee grounds. Sure he had promised that he would be by Angie's side in this pregnancy… but what was he thinking giving up coffee? Did everyone realize how viciously unproductive he was going to be without it?

Incredibly dejected and hopeless about the situation, Derek stuck his head into the sink where he opted to inhale the scent, trying to calm his need for the liquid. In his own little world, he failed to notice his wife walk in, laughing to herself as she rested against the doorframe.

"You're pathetic…" she said, to which she watched Derek shoot nearly three feet up into the air, grabbing his chest as he leaned against the counter.

"Gah! Angie… don't… do that!" he whispered.

Slowly, she walked over to him.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, to which she nodded.

"Kinda – I'm still really nauseous…" she replied as she popped one of her prenatal vitamins, washing it down with a glass of water.

"Do you want me to make you some eggs, or someth—"

His request was promptly cut off as Angie held her hand out to stop him, closing her eyes tightly as she shook her head rapidly.

"Nope. Eggs are on the list."

He chuckled, confused.

"What list?"

"The list of foods we don't mention."

"Oh. Okay…" he replied, still chuckling.

Suddenly his eyes caught the copy of the ultrasound that was fastened onto the refrigerator by a small blue magnet. His eyes lit up as he stared at it, smiling as Angie pulled out a pack of saltine crackers and began to down them.

"Oh!" he gasped, whirling around to face her. "You know what I just thought about?"

"Hmm?"

Derek chuckled, resting his hands on his hips. "When are we going to tell the grandparents?"

Angie's eyes widened. "Oh no, I can't believe we didn't even think of that!" she shrieked, her hands flying up to her face.

He walked over and sat in the chair next to her as both of them silently brainstormed the situation.

"Do you want to maybe, invite them over for dinner tomorrow, or something?" he asked, to which she pondered for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah… but, we can't just tell them… we have to do something interesting.."

He smirked. "Why?"

"Just because their reaction will be funnier…" she giggled, taking a bite of another cracker.

Silence again as the pair thought, before a small smile swept Derek's face.

"You know… it's a good thing that we stink at doing things when they're supposed to be done…" he mumbled, standing up as he walked over into their office, Angie watching him confusedly. Her confusion grew as he walked out of the room with two tiny black photo albums, setting them down on the kitchen table in front of Angie, who was still lost.

"Uh…?" she asked, motioning towards the album, silently asking for an explanation.

"Every time we see our parents, we keep forgetting to give them the albums from the wedding…" he explained, walking over to the fridge where he pulled off the ultrasound photo, opening one of the albums. He flipped to the last page and stuck the ultrasound on the inside of the back cover, as Angie gasped.

"So, they'll have to look through the entire album before they notice?!" she exclaimed, to which he nodded.

Angie pecked Derek on his lips, smiling.

"Brilliant. I knew there was a reason I married you…" she joked, to which both of them giggled.

He removed the picture from the album and walked it back over into the office, making two copies, and sticking the original back onto their refrigerator. Pulling out a roll of tape, he fixed the two photos to the last page of the album, smiling as he closed them.

Angie walked from the bedroom smiling, her cell phone in her hands.

"My parents, and your mother will both be here for dinner tomorrow night…"

"Do you think they have any idea?"

She giggled. "My parents were completely oblivious… they're too busy being a bunch of lovesick teenagers.."

He laughed.

"Your mother, on the other hand… caught on immediately."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah – she asked why an impromptu dinner, and asked if we might have some news… I just told her that we found the wedding albums that we were supposed to give her awhile ago, and that we didn't want to keep forgetting anymore… I think she bought it."

Derek smiled, handing the albums off to Angie, who looked at the addition before she placed them in their bedroom, on her dresser.

"Okay, we've got to get ready for work, or we're going to be late…" she said, looking at the clock in the kitchen as she walked back into the bedroom, suddenly hunching over.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rushing to her side as she breathed heavily.

"..Ugh… I've just got cramps really bad…"

He helped her over to the bed, where they sat together, Angie still grasping her stomach in pain.

"This sucks, Derek! I've got to take a shower… I don't have time for this!"

He stood and walked into the bathroom, turning on the faucet, before he grabbed two towels from the rack next to the shower.

"Come on…" he said, lifting her to her feet gently. "You can take a shower with me…"

"Oh yeah, because there's no alternative motive to that…" she scoffed, chuckling.

"I have no coffee – I've got to have something wake me up…"

He laughed as he closed the bathroom door behind them, helping her into the shower before he followed himself.

------------------

"You're right, that is weird…" Derek said, his arms full of shopping bags as he and Angie walked into their apartment the next day.

"I mean, first Leslie disappears, and then Tyler doesn't show up to work two days in a row… what are the odds?" she replied, beginning to unload the groceries as Derek helped her.

Angie pulled a knife from the wooden block on the counter and began to chop up vegetables as Derek washed the chicken breasts, trimming the excess fat off of them.

"I sure hope they're okay…" she said, before laughing softly. "Or, they're just smarter than us and took a 'leave of absence' so that they could have some time together…"

A half hour later, the chicken was marinating, the vegetables chopped and ready to go, nothing left to do but wait.

Angie and Derek were sitting on the couch together, his hand resting on her stomach as he pressed gently, her sighs coming every few seconds.

"Why do you keep sighing?" he asked, pressing softly into her flesh.

"Because, you're not going to find anything!" she exclaimed, laughing.

"Maybe you're right, but I'd still like to t—"

Derek's hand pressed into a small lump, to which Angie jumped, shrieking.

"What!? What?!" he asked quickly. "Did I hurt you?! I'm sorry!"

"No!" she said, calming down. "That was just, really uncomfortable feeling…"

Derek stood up off the couch, motioning for her to lie down flat, which she did. Kneeling next to her, he gently moved his hands over the same area, pressing more gently than before. Angie's eyes widened as the same small bump was felt, moving around her belly with his touch. As she shifted her body, rolling to the side, she noticed that the lump moved with her, leaving both of them to giggle like crazy.

"And you said I was nuts!" he exclaimed, to which she scowled before quickly lightening up.

"That's so _weird feeling!!!_" she exclaimed, placing a hand on it herself as she moved herself back and forth. "Gah!"

Shaking off the weird feeling, she sat up, Derek's hand still on her stomach.

"It's growing by the day!" he chuckled, kissing her on the cheek before they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Derek rose to his feet and walked briskly over to the front door, placing a hand on the handle.

"WAIT!" Angie yelped, running over to the kitchen, where she tore the ultrasound off of the fridge and stuck it in a nearby drawer.

"Okay, we're good…" she replied as she walked to his side.

Derek pulled the door open to reveal his mother, Elizabeth, with a large Tupperware in her hands.

"Hello you two!" she said, giving her son a hug before she handed him the Tupperware. She quickly moved on to Angie whom she hugged as well, pulling back and complimenting her on the dress she was wearing. Derek walked back over to where they were standing just as Elizabeth's expression turned completely serious.

"Oh, my…" she said, her brown eyes staring straight into Angie's green ones.

"Is something wrong?" Angie asked, to which Derek looked at his mother concerned as well.

"You're pregnant." she said, so matter-of-factly that it took the both of them by complete surprise. Angie's eyes widened as she looked over to Derek, who had no answer to give.

"Uh… I, am?" she asked, giggling.

Touching her cheek gently, Derek's mother looked her over, beaming.

"You've got the glow… Angie honey, you're pregnant."

"No she's not, Mom…" Derek interjected, slipping his arm around Angie's shoulders.

Elizabeth backed away from Angie, her and her son's eyes deadlocked with one another.

"You're lying to me, Derek Joseph…" she said, still smiling.

Derek groaned. "Mo-oooom! I am not lying to you!" he said, raising his voice higher in pitch.

"Oh yeah?" she said, giggling as she brushed a chunk of her brown hair from her face. "Then why is your voice doing that pitch, thing…"

It was true. Whenever Derek was getting caught in a lie, his voice would rise higher in pitch, and he would talk a lot louder to try to mask it.

The three were interrupted from Elizabeth's grilling when another knock resounded at the door.

"Got it!" Angie chirped, scurrying over to the door as she let out a breath, relieved.

Angie's father walked in the door first, immediately scooping his only daughter up into his arms. Derek and Elizabeth walked over and greeted the two of them, Rachelle giving a big hug to her son-in-law before she turned back to her daughter, hugging her tightly as she stroked her long, blonde hair. Suddenly, Rachelle pulled away, still holding onto Angie's shoulders as her daughter looked on at her confusedly.

"Angie!" she shrieked, leaving Ken, Derek, and Elizabeth to stop talking and take notice.

"…Mom..?" she replied, inquisitively.

"Oh, honey!!" Rachelle exclaimed, throwing her arms around Angie again before Angie wriggled out of her grasps.

"Mom! What?!"

Rachelle and Angie stared at each other for a moment before her mother looked at Derek, smiling, and then back to her daughter.

"Honey, when were you going to tell us that you're pregnant?!" she shrieked happily, to which both Derek and Angie widened their eyes at each other.

"Baby, you're… pregnant?" Ken asked slowly, smiling as he glanced between his daughter and her husband.

"She's not pregnant…!" Derek interjected, chuckling at the irony of the situation.

"Yes she IS!" Elizabeth said, in a slight sing-song voice. "She's got the glow!"

Rachelle's and Elizabeth's maternal instincts were kicking in, both finding reason after reason why Angie must be pregnant.

"Oh, dear God!" Angie exclaimed, throwing up her hands as she scoffed. "Will you guys calm down for a minute!"

Ken just laughed as he walked into the kitchen, looking through the drawers for a bottle opener for the glass bottles of Coke he brought – instead, stumbling on something he probably wasn't supposed to see. He had accidentally opened the silverware drawer, pulling out a small picture as a proud grin swept his face.

"If Angie was pregnant, we would've called and told you!" Derek interjected, standing next to his wife who was now slightly frustrated.

Their mothers continued to badger the pair, much to their annoyance, before Ken walked back over into the room, hands clasped behind his back, holding his new discovery. Still arguing with each other, Ken cleared his throat to try to get their attention, eventually noticing he was unsuccessful.

Suddenly..

"Ex-CUSE me!"

"WHAT?!" the four of them yelped, whipping their heads toward Ken, who was smiling.

"Angie… honey, you're not pregnant..?" he asked, his expression completely serious.

"No, dad… I'm not…" she replied, Derek nodding along with her.

"Oh?" he questioned, stepping towards them as he leaned in his top half forward, lulling his voice to just above a whisper.

"…Then, what's this?" he asked, pulling the ultrasound photo from behind his back and flashing it to the four.

Complete silence.

"…Where, did you get that?" Angie asked, as she watched hers and Derek's mothers clasp their hands over their mouths excitedly.

"The silverware drawer, for some odd reason."

Derek shot a look over at his wife. "Of all the places you could've hid that, you pick the silverware drawer?!"

"I just threw it in a drawer! I didn't know it—"

Their argument was instantly closed as Rachelle and Elizabeth latched their arms around their respective children's necks, squealing with joy before they switched children, and then finally, hugged each other.

Ken walked up slowly to Angie and pulled her into a hug, smiling.

"Congratulations…" he whispered to her before he pulled back, walking over where he hugged his son-in-law as well.

-------------------

"So, how far are you along?" Elizabeth asked, taking a small bite of her dinner.

"Um… almost eight weeks…" Angie replied.

"And, are you going to be surprised, or do you want to know what it's going to be?" Rachelle added.

"We want to be surprised.."  
"We want to know what it is…"

Angie and Derek turned toward one another and raised their eyebrows as they realized they had each said something different.

"You don't want to know what it is?" Angie asked, a hint of shock in her tone.

"No – but, I thought you didn't either!" Derek replied, sipping his water.

"What would give you that idea?!"

"That's what you said!"

"When?! When did I say that?!" she asked, setting down her fork as she looked at him.

"I, don't… remember…" he said slowly, but confidently.

Angie laughed. "Yeah, okay…"

Derek scoffed. "Besides – why would you want to know something like that anyway?! It's like knowing what a present is before you open it – it completely ruins the surprise!"

"I agree, Derek…" Ken said, turning to his wife. "It's too bad that Rachelle had to play the "I'm pregnant, I decide" card…"

Everyone began to laugh, before Angie turned back to Derek.

"Derek, I mean – how are we going to know what stuff to buy, how to, decorate the room!.. What, clothes and stuff like that…?"

"It's easy!" he chirped, swallowing his food. "You just buy neutral stuff, and decorate the room with… I don't know, like, some nursery rhyme theme, or something…"

"And choosing the name?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We pick what we want for both boy and girl, and then whatever we have, we name it what we came up with…"

Angie glanced at him, chewing her food as they continued to look at one another.

"You know…" Elizabeth started gently. "You have awhile to decide – you don't have to figure it out right this minute…"

"She's right, you know…" Rachelle interjected, giggling slightly. "Take your time…"

Angie and Derek glanced at each other once more and smiled, before continuing to eat.

-------------------

Elizabeth Stiles hugged her son tightly, giving him a kiss on his cheek as she pulled away.

"Thank you so much for a wonderful evening…" she said, grabbing Angie in a hug as well, pulling away to gently pat her stomach.

"You take good care of my first grandchild, okay?" she said warmly, smiling at the two.

"We will, Mom…" Derek replied, wrapping an arm around Angie's waist. "Drive safely, okay?"

"I will sweetheart… Good night you two…"

"Good night." the two replied in unison, turning around to bid farewell to Angie's parents as well. After trading hugs, Rachelle looked at her daughter, gently brushing her hair with her fingers.

"You keep me updated, okay?" she asked, to which Angie nodded. "I am grandma, after all…"

Angie giggled and Derek smiled. It sounded weird to everyone, thinking of their parents as grandparents.

"Maybe we can have lunch soon – because you'll carry your baby the same way I carried you, and I can give you a lot of insight on how things will go…"

"Sounds great, mom… Call me when you're free?"

"Oh, Derek…" Ken spoke, grabbing the young man's attention. "You call me too…"

"Heh, why, may I ask..?" Derek queried, smiling confusedly.

"Because…" he continued. "Based on how Rachelle was with Angie, I can give you a lot of insight on how the Thompson women act while pregnant… let you know what you're in for…" he said, nudging Derek gently in the arm.

Derek couldn't help but start to laugh, Angie smacking him in the arm as Rachelle did the same to Ken, both women scoffing at their childish husbands.

Shortly after, goodbyes were exchanged, and the last of the new grandparents left Derek and Angie's apartment.

She sighed happily, wrapping her arm around Derek's waist as they chatted, walking back to the bedroom. Flipping on the light, Derek's gaze immediately caught the two black photo albums resting on the dresser, which they had forgotten to give their parents once again.

"Aw, DAMMIT!" he groaned, to which Angie giggled as they both changed into pajamas and turned off the lights, snuggling together in bed.

"So, we told the grandparents…" he said, smiling as he recalled the chain of events. "Or, the grandparents told themselves…"

Angie laughed. "Yeah… well, what's next?"

Silence, before Derek chuckled.

"Work."

"…You know Victor's never going to stop whining about this, right?" she asked, to which Derek laughed. "Yeah… I know…" he replied.

Kissing her on the cheek, Derek snuggled up closer to Angie, wishing her sweet dreams before they drifted fast off to sleep.

* * *

**Swear to you all, my mother knew my sister was pregnant before she did. It was really funny watching her try to reason with her... haha.**

**And the weird bump things with Angie's stomach? When my sister was around the same amount along, she could roll from side to side and this little bump would move with her - it was real creepy.**

**So, I left Leslie and Tyler out of this for a reason. 1) Because it would've been too long, and 2) Because I like holding you in suspense!**

**With that said...**

**See you next time!**


	14. Lilac

**Quick Note: I'M PICKING UP NEW BLOOD TOMORROW MORNING! WEE! Okay. This is my last attempt to save this story from a fiery death. If you're confused by the title of this chapter, I don't blame you, as it is kind of weird... but I promise, it'll make sense later.**

So (deep breath) I hope that you all like this chapter. That's all I'll say for now... let's go!

Oh, and italics at the beginning are flashback. :D Enjoy!

* * *

Amber shut the door as Tyler set her down, still grasping on to his shirt tightly. Her soft, pink lips planted kisses all the way up and down his neck, and though she was completely obliterated, it was one of the best feelings he had ever had.

…Though secretly he admitted to himself, that it could never compare to when Leslie did it.

Amber's immaculately clean room smelled of lilac, Leslie's favorite scent. As her perfectly manicured nails raked through his hair, her mouth now gently nibbling his earlobe as she worked to unbutton his shirt, Tyler cast a sad glance out the window – even a woman as hot as this couldn't stop him from thinking about Leslie… especially when he smelled lilac.

"_Oh, no!"_

_Tyler lifted his attention from the paper he was reading, looking up at a distraught Leslie who was holding a small, purple entity in her hand – one that upon a second glance, almost looked like a candle._

"_What's the matter, Les?"_

"I know you're drunk… but maybe you could pretend like you're enjoying this a little?"

Tyler was broken out of his reminiscing at the sound of Amber's voice, who had stopped unbuttoning his shirt due to the fact that he wasn't moving.

"O-Oh…" he said, forcing a smile as he walked her over towards the bed. "Sorry…"

"_The wick on my candle is gone, so I have no lilac candles to burn while I take a bath! I need them – it's been a horrible day...!" she exclaimed. Though Tyler never understood why she loved lilac so much, he knew that whenever she had a bad day, it could seemingly make everything all better._

Lying down on the sheets with a beautiful blonde woman on top of him unbuttoning the remainder of his shirt, Tyler looked out the window, still stuck with the memory.

_Leslie scowled at Tyler when instead of being as upset as she was, he just smiled at her, rising to his feet. Without saying a word, he walked past her and into their bedroom, beginning to rummage through the closet. She followed him still upset, when suddenly, he walked back out and towards her..._

_...holding a large purple candle._

Amber wrapped a hand around the back of Tyler's neck and pulled him up towards her, removing his shirt which she had managed to completely unbutton. Now her hands were running all over his chest, her long hair tickling his skin as she moved to unbuckle his belt.

_Leslie's face lit up as she took it from him, inhaling the sweet scent with her eyes closed. Suddenly, her gorgeous amber eyes popped open, a smile as bright as the sun on her lips. Silently her expression questioned him, but her mouth said no words – speechless by the small act of kindness that she would remember forever._

"_I saw it and bought it just in case of a rainy day..." he said, her grin all the thanks he needed. Suddenly, her arms were latched around his neck._

Having unbuckled his belt and the undoing the button on his pants, Amber was now on all fours again, Tyler's body underneath her as she crawled towards his upper half. She giggled slightly as she inched her face closer to his, drunkenly planting her lips on his neck again as she kissed over and over. Tyler shut his eyes tightly, trying desperately to drive the thoughts of Leslie out of his head and focus on what was going on. Resting his head lightly against Amber's, he took a deep breath inward and his senses were flooded with the sweet smell of lilac laced in every strand of hair she had.

"_Thank you..." Leslie whispered gently in Tyler's ear, grasping him tightly as he gently lifted her off of the ground, his arms firmly around her waist. He was instantly calmed as he took a deep breath – her hair always smelled of lilac, due to the shampoo that she could never get enough of._

Amber finally stopped kissing Tyler's neck, looking deep into his eyes as she brought her lips closer to his. Internally, Tyler froze – this was the first woman besides Leslie that he was going to kiss in years. Everything inside him wanted to run, but he knew there was nowhere to go – Leslie had someone else now… this is how she wanted it to be.

_As Tyler set her down, Leslie smiled up at him, rising up onto her tiptoes as she stared into his eyes._

"_I don't know what I did to deserve you..." she said, inching her lips towards his as her eyes closed._

Tyler could feel the blonde's alcohol-filled breath hitting his lips, making him quite aware of how close she was to kissing him. It was do or die now – he knew that once it was done, there was no turning back.

_Ever so softly, Leslie's lips met Tyler's, hers seemingly cradling his as she thanked him for his thoughtfulness. It lasted just a second, but didn't seem as such... and for some reason, the sweet innocence of that brief kiss cemented in his mind how much he loved her – and wanted to be with her forever._

_And that was why when she was in the bathtub, relaxing with her candle - Tyler slipped out unnoticed, driving downtown where he began the search for her engagement ring._

Closer now, Tyler could feel her lips brush his bottom one – but before they could connect, he rolled out from under her, grabbing his shirt as he furiously pulled it on.

"Mmm.. Tyler? What, are you doing..?" Amber asked, completely confused.

Buckling his belt and buttoning his pants and shirt, Tyler apologized over and over.

"I'm sorry… it's not that you're not.. _completely_ hot…" he said. "But I can't do this…"

And with that, Tyler stormed from her apartment. Away from a beautiful woman who wanted to sleep with him, away from the smell of lilac, and away from the opportunity he had to move on… just like Leslie did. Amber could kiss him and touch him all she wanted – but he knew somewhere inside that he could never return the actions. Especially now, because his buzz had worn off and he was almost completely sober, leaving him to realize just what he had almost done.

He walked downstairs and out of the building dejected, where he hailed a cab, sending it back home.

Even if she had found someone new, and had cheated on him while they were on their "break" – Tyler couldn't help the fact that he was still in love with her.

Stopped in front of his and Leslie's house, Tyler paid the cab driver and got out of the car, inhaling deeply as he stared at the home they once shared. Tears collected in his eyes but did not fall as he thought of all the happy memories they had shared in that house – all of them, now obsolete.

It was 4:15 in the morning, and Leslie was still awake, now sitting up in hers and Tyler's bed as she hugged his pillow in her lap. The rain had stopped long ago much to her dismay – it always had been good at calming her down when she was upset… Upset that she left in the first place, upset that he had found her with her cousin, and upset that he still hadn't returned home. Her feelings of being upset were soon replaced by the sound of her furiously beating heart as she heard the front door click, and then open slowly. He was finally home, and since she parked in the garage, he most likely had no idea she was here.

His gaze averted towards the ground, Leslie watched from the bed as Tyler sadly walked towards their bedroom, stopping just outside of the doorway as he looked up at her, the moonlight casting a soft illumination over her form.

Shocked, Tyler said no words as they continued to stare at each other, silence cutting through the air like a sharp knife.

Suddenly, he looked down and away from her, walking over and into the closet. Leslie watched him confused as he emerged with a suitcase, immediately beginning to fill it with his belongings.

"Tyler…?" she questioned shakily, tears in her eyes. "What, are you doing…?"

He paid her no mind as he continued to pack, walking over into the bathroom to go grab some toiletries.

"Please, can we talk about this?!" she asked, rising off of the bed onto her feet as she hesitantly paced forward just a step.

"There's nothing to talk about…" he grumbled, refusing to look her in the eye.

Though she didn't want them to, tears began to spill down Leslie's cheeks.

"You've got it all wrong, Tyler – what you saw tonight was not what you thought!"

"Oh yeah?!" he said, shooting a sharp glare up at her. "I think the "I've been caught" look you had on your face when I found you says much different… I saw him kiss you, Leslie – I'm not an idiot!"

"He kissed me on the side of my head – that's what COUSINS do!" she yelped.

Tyler stopped in his tracks, looking up at her.

"Cousin…? Cousin that in almost six years together, I've never met? Really likely story Les, but thanks for trying…"

Tyler was half surprised when she stormed from the room in a huff, but he refused to dwell on it and instead, kept packing. Suddenly, a large book was slapped on top of the pile he was shoving into his suitcase. He diverted away from it and went to go grab some more things from the closet.

"Tyler…" she said, trying to catch his attention, failing as he purposely ignored her.

"Tyler, just LOOK!" she yelled. He stopped, a pair of folded jeans in his hands as he walked over to the photo album that she had placed on the bed, pointing at a picture of her and the man from the bar. At that moment, Tyler felt like an idiot.

"Do you remember the nickname we had for Bradley, Tyler?"

He chuckled slightly under his breath as he threw the pair of jeans onto the bed, sitting himself down on the edge.

"…the one family member that Tyler hasn't embarrassed himself in front of…" he said, beginning to remember all the stories that Leslie had told him about Brad.

"Tyler…" she said gently as he rose to his feet, scratching the back of his head.

"How could you ever think that I would do that to you? That I would leave you for someone else…"

He shot an intense glare at her, causing her to shift where she stood.

"Because, Leslie… I don't even know who you are anymore, so I figured that anything would be possible…"

She paused. "What do you mean you don't know me anymore?"

"I mean I can't trust what you do… I thought it was perfectly plausible for you to have found someone else in such a short time. I mean, hell… the one thing you _always_ promised me over the course of our relationship is that you would NEVER leave me…" he started, glaring down at her. "…and not even a week ago, you walked out on me. On us, on our life…"

Leslie looked down at the floor shamefully, tears falling freely down her face.

"And it made me question that if you would break that promise, what else you would do…"

"Tyler…"

"No…" he interrupted, holding up a hand. "You know, this really kind of put things in perspective for me… when things got really tough, instead of sticking around and talking it out, you bailed…"

"I did NOT bail!" she yelped, sobbing now. "I took a few days to myself… and I wouldn't have had to do that if I thought for a minute that you and I had a future together!"

Tyler paced back over to the bed upset, where he resumed packing. Listening to Leslie's sobs he continued stuffing items into his bag, before she turned him around to face her.

"I just…" she started, sobbing uncontrollably. "I don't understand… why, you don't.. want to m-marry me!"

"I do!" he cried, earning a look of surprise. "Leslie – I have ALWAYS wanted to marry you, but you were the one who told me, "Why do we need a piece of paper if we love each other?!""

"I know, but that was a long time ago…!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know if you don't tell me what you're feeling!" he retaliated. "I mean, damn Leslie…! I've wanted to marry you since practically our first date!! …and even though you never seemed like you wanted to, I was always happy knowing that if I couldn't call you my wife, at least you were my future. I told you that, all the time - that I wanted nothing in my future besides you…" Tyler reiterated, driving his point home.

"If you wanted to marry me so badly, then why didn't you just ask?!" she yelped, wiping the tears away from her face.

For a number of reasons, this angered Tyler to a point where he couldn't settle down from.

Shooting his right hand into his pocket, he pulled out the ring box and held it in front of her face, seeing the biggest look of shock he had ever seen in her eyes.

"I have been trying, to ask you, for a long time…" he seethed. "But every time I got ready to, you started flipping out on me for something else I did wrong!"

"Tyler…" she gasped, watching as he shoved the box back in his pocket forcefully. "I had no idea…"

"I know you didn't… but with you mad at me all the time, I was afraid you would say no and get more mad…"

She nodded.

"And then you left… I begged for you to come back, I left you message after message… but you didn't listen…"

"I said I needed space…" she replied softly, arms crossed in front of her. "I'm sorry…"

He looked up at her, a sad expression on his face.

"Leslie, when I saw you with someone else, I got so angry to the point that I almost_slept_ with another woman…"

Her eyes widened at the revelation.

"You, WHAT?!" she exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Nothing happened… at all. I didn't kiss her, she just kissed my neck a little bit…"

Leslie was visibly angry now, crying once again. "Why… why are you telling me this?"

"Because…" he said gently. "Even when I was THAT mad at you, I still could never think about being with another person. I could never think about leaving you…"

Her gaze brightened just a bit at what he was saying, her hopes raising slightly.

"But…" he continued, looking down at his feet.

Leslie's hopes shattered as she began to sob again. "No, Tyler… no but… please Ty, don't do this…"

"Leslie, I have nothing left to give you… I can't make you happy anymore – so the best thing is probably for me to leave, and let you try to find happiness without me…"

Suddenly, Leslie's arms were latched around Tyler's waist, her anguished sobs muffled by his chest.

"Please!" she sobbed, grasping tighter. "You.. you can't, do this Tyler… I love you!"

Tyler looked up at the ceiling as he fought back tears, losing the battle as one by one, they came streaming down his face.

"I can't, Les…" he whispered. "I just, can't…"

Outside, the rain began to pour again, beating against their house as the two held each other, six long years together coming to an end.

"I don't need a ring!" she cried, lifting her head up to look at him. "I don't need, anything, except you…! Everything I have means nothing if I don't… have, you! Tyler, please… I'll do anything…!"

He sadly smiled, cupping her face.

"There's nothing left to do, Leslie… I love you with all my heart, but I can't make you happy…"

"Yes you can!" she said, raising her voice. "And don't you dare tell me you love me, you liar!"

Taken aback, Tyler stared at her as she yelled at him.

"YOU! You JUST got upset at me for walking out on us – I didn't even leave! I just went on a break!"

"YEAH?!" he yelled back. "Well, how was I supposed to know WHEN or IF you were even COMING BACK?! I called and BEGGED, Leslie! BEGGED, and PLEADED for you to just hear me out, and you didn't give me the time of day! I thought you were gone!"

"But I wasn't!" she yelled back.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?!" he asked.

Suddenly, a silence filled the room as Tyler turned around, lifting his bag into his arms. Leslie dropped to the floor, sobbing harder than ever.

"…please…"

Her cry was faint, but Tyler still heard it. He looked at her with remorse as she stared up at him, her eyes shining with tears as she silently begged for him to stay.

"…I'm sorry…" he said, bowing his head, to which another round of anguished cries came from her. Tears rolled down his face as he grabbed his keys and walked out of the bedroom, and soon after, out into the garage.

Frozen in that spot as she cried, Leslie laid down on the carpet, curled into a ball as she continued to cry and silently plead for him to come back.

Storming out of the house and willing himself to not turn back, Tyler opened the garage door and hopped into his Tahoe, throwing his bag in the backseat. As he pulled on his seatbelt, his hand brushed a lump in his right pocket, identifying it as Leslie's engagement ring. He pulled it from his pocket and snapped it open, looking at the gorgeous sparkling round diamond set in the middle of a plain platinum band. Sadly, he closed it and opened his center console, tossing it inside as his hand brushed something else.

With the rain pouring down and beating against the garage, Tyler gently lifted the object out of the console, looking at the lilac candle intently as a smile crept across his face.

"_I saw it and bought it just in case of a rainy day..."_

----------

Inside, Leslie still laid curled up on the carpet, tears dampening her face and the floor underneath her. Much to her surprise, she felt Tyler's arms wrap around her, silently lifting her up and into his arms, cradling her gently as he walked back towards their bed. The both of them still sniffling, he placed her on the mattress and laid down next to her, pulling her into his arms where he held her tighter than he ever had before. She grasped onto his shirt tightly sobbing as he gently shushed her, planting a few small kisses on her forehead. He felt her calm down slowly but surely, still sniffling, her breaths uneven.

"…Why did you come back?" she asked quietly, still holding onto his shirt.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes, brushing the hair out of her face.

"Because... I love you, Leslie Marianne Sears. And I told you before – the one thing I've always promised is that I would never walk out on you…"

She smiled softly as another sob forced its way loose.

"And besides… this isn't the end…" he said gently, cradling her now wet face in his hand.

"…it isn't?" she asked, confused.

Tyler smiled warmly.

"Nope… it's nothing more than a rainy day…"

Slowly and softly, he brought his lips against hers, listening to her sigh with relief as they kissed.

Curling back up together, Leslie and Tyler listened to the rain pour down as they held each other close, realizing how close they had both come to losing the greatest love in their life. And as Leslie slipped off into sleep, Tyler smiled, inhaling the sweet smell of lilac in her hair.

* * *

**(Sigh)**

Man, that one was a marathon!

Hopefully that makes everyone happy, and I don't have to scrap this thing!

Especially because if I scrap it, nobody will get to see the tricks I have up my sleeve. I promise, it'll end up with you all chasing me with pitchforks and other such entities... AWESOME, RIGHT?!

Anyway - see you next time.. please review! 


	15. An Unexpected Visitor

**Ok, it's true. Very many of us have been sucked away by the wonder that is New Blood. There are no spoilers anywhere in my AN or in this story, as I want you to read it still :)**

**So with that, we progress onward with FCL. I wonder how many of you are still around to see it still, and how many of you have given up on this in favor of the new game.**

**Meh, I guess we'll see by who reviews it – ps: whoever gets the 100th review gets a prize!**

**Let's go!**

**Characters © Atlus**

* * *

With the events of the night before, neither Tyler nor Leslie had changed clothes before they went to bed. The pitter patter of rain woke them both up gently in the morning, still curled in each other's arms. Without saying any words, Tyler leaned over and kissed Leslie gently, stroking her hair and her face softly. 

"I'm so sorry, for everything…" she said, breaking away.

Tyler smiled, happy to be with her, hear her voice, and be back home, together – where they belonged.

"I'm so sorry too, Les… I love you so much…"

Leslie smiled, squeezing Tyler tightly.

"I love you too…"

The only sound that could be heard was the beating of raindrops on the window above their bed as Leslie and Tyler cuddled together.

"…do you want to finish talking…?" she asked, to which he shook his head.

"Nope." he replied. "I think we're both in agreement about the situation… I just need you to promise me one thing…"

"Anything…"

"I promise you that there is nothing too big that we can't work through it – but, we can't work through anything if you leave when things get rough… So I just need you to promise that when you are upset about something, that you will talk to me, and not run away…"

Leslie's eyes flickered with the slightest bit of shame, her lips forcing a smile.

"I know I shouldn't have run from the situation, and that I should have just told you how I felt – but I didn't want you to propose to me just because I wanted you to… I wanted you to figure it out on your own…"

She trailed off, leaving Tyler to put the rest of the pieces together.

"I know, it was all a misunderstanding… but, I still need you to promise to be honest with me…"

Leslie smiled, looking Tyler in his eyes.

"I promise."

After a slight hesitation, Leslie spoke up.

"…now, can you do something for me?"

Tyler nodded. "You name it."

"Please, please,_please_ go change – you smell like a moldy wet dog."

Tyler took a whiff of his shirt and recoiled, nearly unable to believe that Leslie had breathed him in all night – it was because he got drenched from the rain and never changed, but Tyler had no idea that a little bit of rain could produce a stink like that.

He chuckled as he crawled out of their bed and walked over into the bathroom, turning on the shower as Leslie got up as well, ripping the now smelly sheets off to toss in the washing machine. Tyler chuckled as he watched her face contort into a look of disgust as she took a whiff of the sheets, before stumbling from the room to go and wash them.

When she walked back into the room, Tyler was seated on the edge of the bed, smiling. Her face brightened into a happy smile as well, her expression still slightly confused.

"What are you so smiley about?" she asked, walking into their closet to grab a new set of sheets.

"Well… obviously if you laid next to me last night you smell too…" he hinted, glancing back and forth between her and the running shower.

Leslie giggled.

"Hmm… well, you know I always have been one to conserve water…"

----------

"Beepbeep….beepbeep"

Still half asleep, Angie listened as Derek rolled over in bed to grab his pager off the nightstand, groaning as he read it. The bed moved slightly as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge, resting for a moment. Without even opening her eyes, Angie knew that Derek was lazily hanging his head, and that before he stood up, he would scratch his head and rub his eyes like every time he had to get up. Although she knew that, Angie still rolled over and looked at him, smiling sleepily when she saw his left hand rubbing his tired face. Her eyes quickly closed themselves again, her heavy eyelids desperate to cover the burning sensation coming from her tired corneas.

Because Derek was unaware that she was awake, he did the best job he could in being quiet as he grabbed a change of clothes from his closet and headed into the bathroom. There was a period of silence where Angie could hear Derek sigh miserably, before she heard him turn on the water, and shortly after, pull up the pin until the shower started.

Rolling from her right side onto her back, Angie pulled a hand up to her face and rubbed her eyes, blinking them open as she turned her head to the side to read her clock.

"3:14? Ugh…"

As Angie rolled out of bed, she felt a sharp cramping feeling in her stomach.

"And that's what I get for eating so late…" she thought as she walked quietly out of their bedroom just as Derek turned off the shower. Her expression turned to sympathy as she heard him step out of the tub, hearing him miserably sigh once more.

Derek looked at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, his wet hair plastered against his head and face. With one hand he scrubbed at his teeth, while the other picked up his towel and began to towel-dry his hair. He set his blue toothbrush next to Angie's pink one on the counter, smiling briefly at them before he turned around and pulled on his pants over his boxers, a white t-shirt, and his the top to his Caduceus uniform.

Hoping not to wake Angie, Derek turned off the light in the bathroom before he opened the door. This proved to be a big mistake, as he walked directly into the doorframe while his glasses-less eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. He stifled his groan as best he could, still worried about waking his wife, but quickly became surprised when he noticed that there was no wife in the room to wake – their bed was empty, blankets askew. Confused, he walked to his nightstand and slipped his watch on his wrist and his glasses on his nose as he walked from the room towards a faint light in the kitchen.

Still groggy from his three a.m. wake up call, Derek paced out to his kitchen where he spotted a very bed-headed Angie standing in her PJ's and robe. Her gaze turned upward at him as he entered the room, her eyes sleepy and face visibly tired. Derek could feel warmth in his heart as his mouth dropped open slightly, a grateful grin sweeping his face.

Angie reached over the sink, gently placing a plate of eggs, sausage and toast on the counter just in front of one of their barstools. Shortly after, she set a glass of orange juice next to it, smiling as she stood in place.

Derek paced towards her slowly, wrapping his arms around her form as she sighed happily. Still warm from just waking up, Derek held her close to him before he pulled back and smiled, kissing her gently.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

It was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but when Angie nodded her head, Derek couldn't help but laugh – at least she knew the right answer.

She pulled him over to the barstool where he sat down and began to eat, pausing for a minute as he looked at her.

"Aren't you going to eat with me?"

Angie shook her head, her forehead furrowing. "At three a.m.? Oh, no… I covered mine and I'll eat it later, you know… when I'm feeling okay." She patted her stomach gently to which Derek smiled sympathetically.

"So, do you just feel horrible the second you wake up?"

"Pretty much – only, I've been up and down all night."

Derek was drinking his juice, but Angie could still see his expression turned confused from behind the glass.

"How come you didn't wake me up…?" he asked, taking a bite of his sausage.

"Because I never got out of bed – I've just, been having some cramps lately, and last night they kept waking me up."

"Well then, I think you should go see Dr. Buchanan today…" he said sternly, the faintest tint of worry in his tone.

Angie smiled, planting a sweet kiss on Derek's cheek as she took his empty plate out from in front of him and walked it around the counter and to the sink, washing it off.

"Relax, honey, its completely normal – since I'm obviously not having any periods, she said that I would notice PMS-like symptoms for the first few months, including a lot of cramping."

Derek visibly relaxed, walking over to her in the kitchen where he finished his juice and popped a piece of gum in his mouth from their medicine cabinet.

"Well…" he started, stepping towards her as her back rested against the sink. "I can't thank you enough for waking up and making me breakfast – even though I'm so tired I could fall flat on my face right now…"

Derek reached his arms around his wife, pulling her into a tight hug as she giggled at his over dramatization.

"I know, I could hear you whining from the shower…" she joked to which Derek scowled.

"…And that's why, I did this too…"

With his hands still around her back, Angie reached over and pulled out a travel mug from behind the empty coffee maker, seeing Derek's face light up instantly. He took it from her silently and took a long sip, inhaling the aroma before he looked up at her smiling.

"It's official – you're the perfect wife…" he said with the utmost sincerity, kissing her as she scoffed, laughing.

"Yeah, so your wife knows you can't function without coffee… alert the presses!"

Derek and Angie shared a laugh as he grabbed his keys from the counter next to where they stood, and kissed her once more.

"It's not just that you know I like coffee – it's that you're up with me at 3 a.m. making it for me, not to mention breakfast…" he explained softly, still smiling. "Thank you…"

She smiled. "You're welcome. Now get going or Sidney's going to have a fit…"

He smiled and thanked her again, kissing her cheek and saying bye to her stomach before he walked briskly out the door. And Angie, for fear of having him worry about her, waited until he was out of the apartment completely before she sank down to the floor, holding her stomach in agony.

Five years prior to becoming pregnant, Angie had started on birth control pills to regulate her hormones, as many women did who had irregular periods and such. She remembered the doctor telling her that going from regulated hormones to pregnancy was going to be no easy task, but just shrugged it off until her first round of cramps came just a few days ago. As she sat on the floor in pain, Angie silently thanked God that it was her day off, hoping that they didn't have too many things for Derek to do now that he was on call for the day. Determined to get through the pain without crying, Angie rolled onto her side where she rested for a few moments until the cramps subsided just enough for her to get up and walk slowly over to the couch – unable to walk the distance to her bedroom. As she laid down and covered herself with a blanket, Angie's mind shut itself off, but was unable to fall completely asleep as her stomach cramped. Gradually, her pain subsided and she slipped back into unconsciousness, not to be woken for a long time.

----------

Six hours and about eight cups of coffee later, Derek locked his Jeep and walked into his apartment building, riding the elevator to the floor where he and Angie lived. Turning the key in the lock, he pushed the door open, instantly spotting a sleeping Angie on their couch, curled up in a blanket. His initial smile faded to a concerned look as he grew closer to her, noticing that she was curled up into a tight ball and that her forehead was furrowed. Placing his keys gently on the coffee table, Derek knelt down on the floor next to the couch and rested his chin on the cushion, just inches away from her face. He rubbed her arm gently and whispered her name, kissing her on the forehead until he watched her stir, and eventually, open her eyes slowly.

"Honey, what are you doing on the couch?" Derek asked, watching as she rubbed her eyes exhaustedly.

"Mmm… what time is it?" she asked, to which he checked his watch.

"Almost 10:30… Angie, if the cramps are hurting you that bad you really need to go see Abigail…" He pressed the idea sternly but gently, failing to solicit the same response.

"Derek, I'm fine – I'm not even in pain anymore, and I don't feel sick right now…" she said, swinging up and into a sitting position.

"Really? No morning sickness?" he asked.

"No, I had some pretty bad cramps after you left for work, but once I fell asleep I was fine…"

Becoming relieved, Derek rose from the floor and sat next to her on the couch. He grabbed a pillow and set it in his lap, pulling her down until her head was resting on it. Propping his feet up on the coffee table, he heard her sigh contently as he began to run his fingers through her long, blonde hair, something that relaxed the both of them.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Derek exclaimed suddenly, apologizing for slightly scaring Angie at his sudden outburst. "You'll never guess what happened today…"

"Mmm..?" she questioned wordlessly, loving every second of having her hair played with.

"When I was leaving this morning, I saw Leslie and Tyler walking into work holding hands and laughing – looks like everything's okay with them now… but he says that it was pretty close to being over…"

"You talked to him?"

"Yeah… I pulled him aside just before I left and asked him what was up. He said he'd fill me in on the details later, but that they got in a huge fight and he almost left."

"Wow…" she said, rolling over until her face was turned up at him. "Sounds pretty serious – I wonder what happened…" she mused, looking away.

"Oh well, none of our business – whatever happened, I'm glad that things are better for them now…" Derek said, before his highly caffeinated brain changed the subject. "Say Ang, it's almost lunchtime, and you never ate the breakfast from this morning – you want to go get something to eat? My treat for this morning…"

Angie sat up, smiling softly.

"Can I take a shower and change first?" she asked.

"Oh, of course, take your time… I'll just change and then watch TV till you're ready."

Angie rose from the couch and walked back into their bedroom, grabbing a complete change of clothes and two towels on her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her as she turned on the water to the shower, waiting for it to heat up.

Derek on the other hand laid down on the couch briefly, his 3 a.m. wake up call catching up with him quickly. He kept himself conscious but relaxed, his mind settled somewhere in between the states of awake and asleep.

While waiting for the shower to warm up, Angie went to the bathroom, flushing the toilet when she was finished. In only her t-shirt, she pulled off her sweatpants, and finally her underwear, eyes widening at them when she tossed them aside.

Derek's breaths had become slower as he slipped closer and closer to sleep. Incredibly relaxed, Derek's brown eyes snapped open as he heard a blood-curdling scream from the bathroom, instantly causing his heart to drop into his stomach. In a split second, he rocketed off the couch and sprinted back into the bedroom, pulling on the handle to the bathroom. Much to his dismay it was locked, and the only thing he could hear was repeated, panicked, sobbing screams from Angie on the other end of the door.

"ANGIE!" he screamed, pounding on the door with both fists. "ANGIE, open the DOOR!"

In an absolute state of panic, Derek whirled around and scanned the room, realizing that if something was that wrong with her, that she was probably unable to open the door. Spotting one of Angie's bobby pins on her nightstand, he ran over and grabbed it, bending it into a straight line and sticking it through the little circular hole on the silver doorknob.

"Hang on, honey… I'm coming!"

Tears collected in his eyes as he listened to her panicked screams continue, his hands shaking so badly that he couldn't push the little button with the bobby pin in order to unlock it.

"Come ON…!" he yelled, jimmying it forcefully as the sound of Angie's sobs ate him away from the inside out. Desperate to get to her in fear of running out of time, Derek took a big breath and focused himself, breathing a big sigh of relief when he heard the lock pop open. Throwing the bobby pin to the side and charging into the bathroom, he scanned the room until he found Angie huddled next to the bathtub, sobbing with her face pressed into the bath mat. He took a big lunge forward and fell to his knees, wrapping an arm around her as he positioned her face next to hers.

"ANGIE!" he yelled, trying to calm her down enough to tell him what was wrong.

All that came was her were painful sobs, broken up every now and then by a screaming wail which little by little, broke his heart as he listened to her, unable to help.

"Honey, stay with me… come on, Angie… what's wrong?!" he asked loudly, trying to yell over her screams so that she could hear him.

Angie picked her head up quickly as she continued to wail. Derek sat in front of her, his expression full of terror as he watched a countless amount of tears stream down her face, her constant cries interfering with her ability to breathe, let alone speak.

"Angie, you HAVE to breathe…" he said, pulling her into his arms where he took deep breaths to try to calm her. Wrapping an arm around her back and holding her head with his other hand, Derek gently moved Angie's head to make her chin rest on his shoulder, the hand on her back pressing her chest into his. Remembering something he had learned from his mother once, he took deep breaths in and out, the rising and falling of his chest pressing against hers as he whispered the words "in" and "out" in her ear. Still firmly holding her in his grasps, the pressure of his chest against hers acted like very mild, slow, chest compressions, allowing her chest to stop spasming and eventually, her hyperventilation to cease. A hand still raked through her hair, Derek pulled her away from his body and held her out in front of him, watching as she continued to cry.

"Angie… please,_ please_, tell me what's wrong!" he exclaimed, looking at her bright green tear stained eyes.

"D-D-Derek…" she sobbed. "I d-don't, kn-know, what… I don't know, w-w-what to do!"

"What to do about what, Angie?! Are you hurt, what's going on?!"

As she broke out into another round of sobs, Angie extended her arm straight, pointing to a crumpled pile of clothes in the corner, just next to the shower.

The light pink panties she had on were stained dark red in the crotch. Her grey sweatpants that lay just to the right of them were also a dark red, leaving Derek to realize that her period had come in full force. Suddenly it clicked in his mind what that signified for the baby she was carrying, and instantly, tears began to collect in his eyes.

"Derek… Derek, I'm going to lose our baby, a-aren't I?!" she exclaimed, falling back into his arms where he grasped onto her and held her tighter than ever before.

"No… No, Angie, don't worry…" he stammered, the words becoming caught in his throat as he willed himself not to cry, to be strong for her. "The baby is going to be fine, we just need to get you to see Dr. Buchanan right now, okay?"

"O-Okay…"

Clenching his teeth as he tried to remain calm, Derek pulled away from Angie, happy that the words he said to her comforted her – but unfortunately, they did little to settle him down.

"Angie… Angie look at me…" he said gently, trying to hide his worry.

She turned her attention up towards him, panic still hardened upon her face.

"I told you that I wouldn't let anything happen to either of you, and I mean that…" he said, holding her face gently.

Angie nodded. Even through a time of absolute panic and uncertainty, Derek always managed to keep his head on straight, in turn, calming her down.

Shakily, she reached underneath the sink and pulled out a pad as Derek stood up and turned off the water to the shower, still trying his best not to cry as he held out hope in the darkest of situations.

Still seated on the floor, Angie dressed herself as she continued to sob lightly. Derek reached into a drawer and grabbed out a ponytail holder, scooping Angie's hair up into a ponytail and tying it, like he had watched her do many times before. Now ready, Angie held up her hands for Derek to help her up, but instead he bent over at the waist, lifting her into his arms where he carried her out the door of the bathroom and set her on the bed.

"Just relax for a minute, okay?" he asked.

As he went to walk away, Derek felt Angie grab his hand tightly, pulling him back towards her where her expression was serious, tears still rolling down her face.

"Derek… what.. what if the baby…"

She was unable to finish the thought as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing once again.

"Oh, honey…" he said, sitting next to her as he hugged her tightly. "Don't think like that… I'm sure everything will be fine… the baby will be okay."

"But, what if its not?"

Derek froze, refusing to entertain the thought because somewhere in his mind, it HAD to be okay… It just, had to…

"Then we try again, Angie…" he said, as a single tear rolled down his cheek. He promptly wiped it away as she launched into another round of cries, burying her face in his shoulder.

He pulled away from her, looking her in the eyes.

"But, so that doesn't happen, we need to go right now. I'm going to grab your purse and your shoes, just stay here…"

Derek rose from the bed, jogging over to the living room where he grabbed Angie's tennis shoes from the hall closet and shortly after, her purse from the counter. His mind raced as he helped her slip on her shoes, lifting her into his arms once again. He locked the door to their apartment before he pulled the door shut, breaking out into a run as he raced the three of them to the car.

Once she was settled in the car, Derek jumped into the driver's seat and roared the engine to life, driving from their complex in a hurry as he dialed Angie's obstetrician's emergency line. The secretary answered and Derek blurted out the situation to her, feeling relieved as she told him that Abigail would be waiting for them at Hope whenever they should get there. He thanked her and clicked the phone shut, stomping down on the gas pedal. Derek briefly glanced over at Angie who was staring hopelessly out the window, tears rolling down her face, one after the other. He reached over and grabbed her hand, to which she tightly squeezed it, neither of them saying a word.

Rocketing into the emergency driveway of Hope, Derek got out and gave his keys to the waiting valet as he ran around to Angie's side and helped her out and into a waiting wheelchair.

"Why don't you let us take care of this…" the security guard said, as he stood in front of Derek.

"I'm a doctor…!" he exclaimed, looking up at the man who immediately backed away.

"Oh, Dr… Stiles, is it?" he asked, to which Derek nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you… of course, go right ahead."

Derek jogged slowly into the ER, Angie settled in the chair he was pushing. They weren't standing in the lobby for five seconds before Dr. Buchanan paced towards them calmly, her face reflecting a sympathetic expression.

Derek moved out of her way as she walked around to the back of Angie's chair, wheeling her forward briskly as Derek tried to keep up.

"Okay, Angie… let's go figure out what's going on, alright?" she asked, to which Angie sadly nodded, still silent.

As the three of them arrived to the doors of the obstetrics ward, Abigail stopped, recruiting a nurse to help them. She turned toward Derek, worry laced in her eyes as she shamefully looked at him.

"Derek, we have a lot of tests to perform, and we're going to need you to wait out here…"

Angie whirled around in her seat, beginning to cry again. "No… No, I need him!" she cried loudly, tears re-wetting her cheeks.

"Doctor, with all due respect… that's my wife and baby we're talking about here… I need to stay with them!" he snapped, voice raising slightly.

"Dr. Stiles, I am aware of that… but if there is a chance to save the baby we are going to need to do it fast…"

"But, I can help!" he prodded, to which she shook her head.

"Derek…" Angie sobbed, grabbing his hand as he continued to battle with the doctor.

"I'm sorry…" Abigail said, watching as Derek's expression dropped from anger to dejection.

Realizing he had been beat, Derek walked around to the front of Angie's chair, kissing her twice before he pulled back, squeezing her hands.

"Angie, everything will be okay… I'll come see you as soon as they let me, okay?"

"O-Okay…" she sobbed, squeezing his hands back as she leaned forward and kissed him again. "Please, don't leave…"

"I won't – I'll see you soon okay… be brave sweetheart…"

Angie nodded silently as the nurse took her position behind Angie's chair, beginning to push her forward.

"Abigail…" Derek said, catching the doctor's attention.

"That's everything important to me, that you're taking back with you…" he said, tears prickling at his eyes.

"Don't worry, Dr. Stiles…" she said. "Your wife is in good hands, I promise you."

And with that, they wheeled Angie through the doors, leaving Derek on the wrong side of them. As the double doors slowly began to close themselves, Derek stood, hands on his hips watching as Angie cried in her chair, back turned toward him. Every time he had seen her begin to cry that day, it had chipped away a small part of his heart… but as she turned around and sent a positively miserable tear-stained glance back at him, Derek felt the last piece of his heart break completely apart, knowing that he was completely powerless to help the one person he cared about most, and the child that now, he would probably never know.

* * *

**All I have to say is PLEASE don't form an angry mob and pitchfork me!**

**Sadly enough, this is actually based on a true story. Poor Derek – I really want to hug him right now… I'm sure Angie does too.**

**Okay, now I have to go update Hostage. (le sigh)**

**Please review!**


	16. Waiting

******In a vain attempt to avoid Chemistry, I come bearing an update.**

******I am going to put a warning out right now, this chapter is fairly depressing. But remember, this is loosely based on a true story - so really, I am just being a good storyteller. **

******So, I think I will stop rambling...**

******...now. :D **

* * *

Derek Stiles was always good at nodding off. 

With Angie always lurking around the corner waiting to yell at him for falling asleep, he had also become VERY good in sensing when there was something that needed his immediate attention. Without fail, when he had the feeling he was needed, he would snap open his eyes and someone would be directly in front of him.

So this time, when Derek had that slight suspicion, he snapped to attention to see Angie's obstetrician standing in front of him, a stone look on her face.

Derek's forehead furrowed as she sat down gently next to him, slightly fumbling with her fingers as her blue eyes stared at him.

"Derek…" she said softly. "I'm afraid I have some bad news…"

He trembled as he listened to her. Without her saying a word, he already knew what was coming.

"…it didn't make it…" he stated, a slight upward inflection at the end of the sentence.

"Derek, there were several complications with the baby. There was an immense amount of bleeding that just, couldn't be controlled…"

He heard a crack in her voice as he nodded, internally devastated by the news as he outwardly kept his cool.

"…Derek, I'm so sorry, we did everything that we could, but we just couldn't save them…"

His heart seemingly stopped at the statement. He must've heard wrong… he _had_ to have heard wrong.

"…Them?" he barely voiced, turning towards her to see tears in her eyes that threatened to fall at any moment.

"The bleeding was just too much, and she went into shock Derek… we did everything…"

"Wait… what are you trying to say?!" he interrupted, tears now pouring down his face as his heart hammered away in his chest.

"Your baby, and your wife… they, both… didn't make it, Derek. I'm so sorry…"

"No… This… isn't, happening. You're lying… you're… No, please… ple…"

The room began to spin out of control as Derek gripped onto the sides of his head, trying desperately to stop the tears, to stop the spiral, to stop this from happening. It wasn't happening, it couldn't be – she was his wife, the only woman he had ever loved.

"No… please, GOD NO!"

His anguished cry sliced through the silence of the waiting room as he dropped onto the floor, sobbing hysterically into the freshly vacuumed carpet. Nobody bothered him as he continued to cry himself numb, unable to believe he would never get to see his wife of merely a year again…

--------

"Derek!"

A familiar masculine voice called out to Derek, the young surgeon rocketing to his feet as he awoke from the worst nightmare he had ever experienced.

As Derek blinked his teary brown eyes open, he came face to face with a very concerned Greg Kasal.

"GREG!" he said, grabbing onto Greg's shoulders. "Where's Angie – _please_, just please tell me she's okay! That, she's not…"

"Whoa, slow down…" Greg said, pushing Derek back into his seat to get him to relax.

"Derek! Are you alright?" he asked, a hand on his chin as he sat down next to the surgeon, who now pulled off his glasses to wipe his tear-ridden face.

Setting his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, Derek looked around for Dr. Buchanan, who was nowhere in sight.

"What… what's going on? Where's the doctor? And what are you doing here?"

Greg's eyebrow raised.

"I should ask you the same thing – Derek, what are you doing here? And why were you screaming like that?"

He felt his cheeks flare up as he looked around. Thankfully, there was only one other person in the waiting room who had apparently witnessed him making a complete fool of himself.

"What was I yelling about?" he asked Greg, who looked at him concerned.

"You just kept yelling "No. Please God, no" over and over again, all the while crying just a bit…"

Now Derek was really embarrassed, though relieved, as he figured out that it had all been a dream.

"… I just, I don't remember nodding off… and I had this dream that Angie's doctor came out and told me that her and the baby had died…"

Greg's hand dropped from his chin as his mouth opened in shock. "THAT'S why you're here?!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "What happened?!"

Derek shook his head, still trying to calm down.

"Angie was getting ready to take a shower, and as she threw her clothes in the corner, noticed that they were covered in blood…"

Greg's expression dropped from worried to sympathetic as he looked down at the ground.

"I'm so, sorry to hear that, Derek…" he mumbled, raking a hand through his hair.

"Well now I'm twice as freaked thinking that something's happened to Angie as well…" he said, flopping back into the chair with a loud sign as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back, placing his hands over his face.

"Derek, I'm sure Angie's just fine. Abigail is the best there is, and if there is even the slightest chance she can save that baby, she'll find a way…"

Though he appreciated the thought, Derek took little solace in that comment.

"…It's just, the waiting…" he said, breaking the silence between them.

Greg nodded. "I know…"

Derek turned confused as Greg started to chuckle.

"You know, you could always fill out insurance forms while you wait…" he joked, stopping when he saw the serious expression on Derek's face.

"Yeah, sure… anything to keep me busy…" he said, watching as Greg nodded silently.

"Okay… you know the drill. You just need an insurance card and Angie's license. I'll be right back…"

There wasn't a thing in the world Derek hated more than paperwork, but he knew that it was necessary for him to have something to do, lest he lose his mind in that waiting room.

Derek reached for his wallet, quickly noticing that in the rush, he forgot to grab it.

"_Oh well, I'll just look at Angie's insurance card... I do need her license too..."_

As he reached for Angie's wallet in her purse, Derek quickly noticed that it wasn't there either. And as he thought about it more and more, he pictured it vividly on the coffee table, right next to his. He mentally smacked his forehead.

Sighing out of frustration, Derek opened his cell phone and dialed, listening to a ring on the other end.

"_Hey dude... what's up?"_

"Hey Tyler, listen… I need a favor."

"_Sure man, is everything alright?"_

Derek sighed. "Do you still have the spare key I gave you?"

"_Yeah, it's around here somewhere... why, you locked out or something?"_

"No…" he said, scratching the back of his head lightly. "I need you to go to my place if you can, grab mine and Angie's wallets off of the coffee table, and bring them up to Hope's ER."

There was a short pause.

"_Please tell me you're both okay..."_

"We're okay. I'll explain when you get here, but I need you to hurry…"

"_On my way dude, I'll be there as soon as I can."_

"Thanks Tyler."

No sooner did Derek click the phone shut than Greg came back with the paperwork. He took a seat next to Derek as he filled out what he could without having her ID or their insurance information.

The silence between the two men was broken by the beeping of Greg's pager. He pulled it out and looked at it briefly, before rising to his feet.

"I uh… have to…"

"Yeah…" Derek said, looking up at him.

"Will you… uh, just let me know if there's anything Cybil and I can do?" he asked softly, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Derek forced a smile as he glanced up at Greg once more. "Thank you – I'll let you know when I find out what's going on…"

"Please do…" Greg said, walking backwards slowly.

"Good luck…" Derek called out, smirking again.

"You too Derek… you too…" he said, smiling before he turned around for good and raced off towards the OR.

As Derek reluctantly returned his gaze to the paperwork, two black leather wallets – one long and one short, were held in front of his gaze by a steady hand. He raised his head slightly, coming face to face with a very concerned looking Leslie and Tyler.

"Thank you guys _so_ much…" Derek said, rising to his feet as he took the wallets from Tyler.

"Oh God, its Angie, isn't it…" Leslie said, her hands flying up over her mouth. "Is she okay?"

Derek motioned over to a bench that was right next to where he had been seated. The two of them sat on it together, watching as Derek rested his elbows on his knees and spun his wedding band around on his finger as he looked sadly down at the carpet. They waited patiently as he took a deep breath, and eventually looked up at them.

"There's something that I need to tell you two…"

"Yeah…?" Tyler said, looking at his best friend almost impatiently.

Derek sighed and cracked a half smile, looking up at the two.

"You guys… uh…" he started, afraid they would be mad for not having told them sooner.

"You're killin me here!" Tyler said, bouncing his knee up and down in suspense.

Derek laughed.

"..Angie's pregnant…"

There was silence as the news sunk in, before Leslie's screech rang through the waiting room. In a flash, her arms were around Derek's neck, squeezing the life out of him as Tyler stood by laughing.

"OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!" Leslie shrieked over and over again, hugging Derek repeatedly, and then switching over to Tyler.

Though excited about the news as well, the blonde knew his best friend better than that.

"…Why do I have the feeling that's not what you needed to tell us…" he said, watching as the smile dropped off of Derek's face. Leslie calmed down quickly, looking over at Derek inquisitively as well.

He sat back down, Tyler and Leslie following suit.

"They're doing some tests right now, because they think she's going to lose the baby…"

Leslie instantly started to cry as she looked at Derek. Tyler's eyes glazed over with sadness as he realized how devastated the two of them must be.

"…What, happened?" Leslie asked quietly as she wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

Derek sighed, twirling around his wedding band once more.

"She was getting ready to take a shower, and started screaming… and when I got to her and she pointed over to her clothes, there was just… blood, everywhere…" he said, rubbing the side of his face.

"Oh, Derek…" Leslie squeaked out softly, walking over to him and wrapping him up in a big hug.

"I'm so sorry man…" Tyler said, his hands in his pockets as he solemnly traded glances with Derek. "How's Angie taking it?"

"… I don't know…" he replied as Leslie let him go, now looking up at him as she continued to wipe her eyes. "She was just absolutely heartbroken back at the house… and then when we got here, they wouldn't let me go in with her.."

He trailed off, looking over Leslie's shoulder as Angie's doctor walked out of the ER doors, scanning the room until she found Derek.

"That's her doctor…" he said, seemingly frozen in place as Abigail walked towards him.

"Okay…" Tyler said, wrapping an arm around Leslie's waist. "We'll be at home – please, call us when you get a chance?"

Derek nodded, forcing a smirk. "I will – thanks so much for bringing these up here again…"

"Don't even worry about it…" Tyler said, patting Derek on the back.

"Tell Angie we love her and give her a hug please?" Leslie asked as she and Tyler walked away slowly.

"I will."

They waved silently and walked out into the parking lot, just as Derek came face to face with his news.

"Doctor…" he asked, his heart beating furiously against the inner walls of his chest.

"Derek, please…" she said, motioning for him to have a seat. She sat directly across from him, watching as he stared down at his wedding band, spinning it around on his finger nervously.

"Before you say anything about the baby… just, please tell me that Angie's okay…"

Abigail smiled.

"Angie is just fine. She's still very upset, but she's in a room right now resting. You'll be able to take her home in just a little bit."

Derek breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't going to have a repeat of that awful dream…

"Derek…?" she questioned, to which he snapped back into attention.

"Sorry…" he chuckled lightly. "I space out sometimes…"

Derek swallowed hard as he waited for the other half of the news.

"Derek, we don't know exactly what caused this… we're waiting on some test results as of right now… We tried to do an exam, but because there was blood in the way, we were unable to tell how this had affected her thus far."

"So what does that mean?" he asked softly, brown eyes wide and pained.

"It means…" she started, interrupting herself to clear her throat.

"Sorry about that…" she said, smiling briefly.

"What this means Derek – is that because of the amount of bleeding, there is a very large chance that your wife is going to miscarry…"

Derek closed his eyes as he felt his heart drop straight down into his stomach for what felt like the millionth time that day.

"How big of a chance…?" he asked, eyes still closed.

"…About 90 percent."

Derek rested his head in his hands, rubbing his forehead slowly before he looked back up at her.

"Angie is having what we call a "threatened miscarriage". The only thing we were able to tell from the exam is that her cervix is closed, which is the reason that I'm telling you that there is still a small chance the baby will be okay. Because her cervix is closed it means that the body is not ready to give up the baby yet… but even with that and the fact that the bleeding is done, the amount of blood that she lost is not good for the baby…"

Derek nodded silently.

"So, what now?" he asked. "Is, she going to be able to get pregnant again…?" he inquired gently, clasping his hands together.

"Oh, I don't see any reason why not. Believe it or not, this is fairly common… about twenty-five percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage these days. In the past when it would take longer for a woman to know she was pregnant, a lot of times, she could've been pregnant and miscarried and not even known it… but since we can tell so soon these days, it unfortunately gets hopes up way before the pregnancy is even certain."

Derek shook his head again as he listened to her speak, all of her words seemingly blending together as he tried to make sense of it all.

"There is still a slight chance that everything will be okay. For moderate bleeding during early pregnancy, it's about a fifty-fifty miscarriage rate. But since Angie's was a bit worse, that number continues to grow in an unfavorable direction."

"I understand…"

"What will happen now…" she continued. "Is that Angie will need to stay on bed-rest for about the next week. Having her avoid stress and activities that keep her out of bed is crucial, as failing to do so may complicate things further."

"Of course..." he said. "What happens after this next week?"

"After that, she will come back in for a procedure called a D&C. If we notice that everything that needs to be expelled has not been, we remove it all using that simple procedure. Since it requires anesthesia she'll be out of commission for the most of that day, but physically she should be fine – just a little soreness and bleeding are common."

She paused. "I know this is a lot to take in, Doctor… but are there any questions that you have?"

Derek racked his brain momentarily. Sure, he had millions of questions like, "Why them" and "Why now", but he knew it was nothing she could answer.

"…When is it okay to try again?" he asked, to which she smirked.

"Physically, I would say to wait between one and three months before trying again. If you two are thinking about it, have her come see me and I'll check to make sure things have healed up from the procedure."

"…but emotionally, it can take some time. A miscarriage is a pretty devastating thing for a woman to go through. I will warn you right now that Angie will mood swing a lot, she'll blame herself and go through periods of heavy depression – everyone heals differently. The key is to just be there for her, be supportive, and be understanding… which I'm sure just by knowing the two of you this long, that it won't be a problem at all." she said, smiling warmly.

"Of course not…" Derek replied, returning her smile.

"Any more questions you have, don't hesitate to contact me." Abigail said, rising to her feet as Derek followed suit.

"Thank you." he mumbled softly, shaking her hand.

"…Can I see her now?" he asked hopefully, feeling slightly better when the doctor nodded her head.

"If you would like to let me finish the paperwork I can already see you've started…" she said, giggling softly. "I can copy her information and you two can leave as soon as it's finished."

Derek handed over Angie's license and her insurance card to the doctor, following her back through the doors.

"She's right in there…" she said, motioning over to a door just to the left of them.

He nodded, thanking her again as he paced slowly towards the door, looking in through the small window embedded in the center of it. His heart sank once more as he stared sadly at Angie, watching her twirl her wedding ring around on her finger – the same way he did when he was upset about something. Her cheeks were tear-stained from earlier, eyes void of their usual sparkle as she bored sad holes into the crisp, white sheets that covered her. Sighing softly, Derek placed a hand on the handle and pressed down and in, very slowly swinging the door open just a bit. He peeked his head in through the crack and smiled sympathetically at her as she raised her stare up from its fixed point. Gently, Derek stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, walking over slowly and taking a seat on the edge of her bed. He took her hand in his and kissed the top of it, before softly brushing her hair out of her sullen face.

Unsure of what to say, Derek just sat with Angie in the silence, holding her hand and occasionally touching her face gently. He turned his gaze down towards their clasped hands, grasping onto hers tightly as they continued to say no words - to silently grieve.

Feeling the tears begin to well in his eyes, Derek suddenly felt a warm hand lift his chin up. Now staring back into her forlorn celadon eyes, he was comforted as her hand caressed his cheek, before resting under his chin again. Without words, she slowly brought his face to hers, kissing him softly. As she pulled away, Angie rested her forehead against his, when suddenly they were interrupted by a knock.

Abigail walked in and handed Derek back his information, had him sign off on a few things, and then removed herself from the room. He thanked her for everything, and after she left, helped his wife get ready to go back home.

----------

Derek became slightly concerned when they arrived back home and Angie still had not said a word. She had not spoken, had not smiled, had not even cried. And although he wanted to know how she was feeling, Derek figured that the best way to help was just to let her come to him.

Opening the front door, he walked with her in his arms back to their bedroom, setting her down on the edge of the bed as he helped her change into a clean pair of pj's. He followed suit shortly after, watching as she crawled gently up towards her pillow. She rolled on her side and closed her eyes, lying in a relaxed version of the fetal position.

Figuring he would let her rest, Derek kissed Angie on the forehead and removed himself from the room to go make a few phone calls.

No sooner did he pick up the phone in the kitchen than he heard a noise from their bedroom. Hanging up the phone, he walked back towards the room, hearing Angie call his name quietly. He stopped in the doorway, looking at her as she looked at him.

"Are you okay…?" he asked, taking a step inside the room.

"Derek…" she said softly. "Will… will you just… come, hold me?"

He half-smiled warmly, walking slowly towards the bed as he crawled in and cuddled behind Angie, holding her tightly in his arms. Drawing a blanket over the two of them gently, he pulled her body in as close to his as he possibly could, cradling her.

Minutes past and silence loomed over the husband and wife, still grieving over the loss of a child they had been so excited to meet. And as the thought crossed Angie's mind and she gripped onto Derek tightly, her sobs began to pour out generously into the night, tears falling faster than ever before.

All he could do was grip onto her tightly as he listened to her cry, feeling helpless as he knew there was nothing that either of them could do to stop what was happening.

So instead of trying to come up with something, Derek just simply did the only thing that he could think of – and allowed a second set of sobs to resound through the air.

* * *

**Yes, I know. Everyone hates me now. Blech.**

**Just by a random show of hands - did anyone actually think I killed off Angie? I hope not :( **

**Well if it makes you feel better, this made me sad to write. So, let's all get together and eat a big ol' tub of ice cream. Sounds like fun, right?!**

**...no?**

**Alright fine then :) please leave a review instead! **


	17. It's About Time

**Holy crap, TCGeek is on an updating spree! Woohoo!**

**2 weeks between updates for this story? (feels my own forehead) I must be dying of something. **

**I got Super Mario Galaxy yesterday. Damn what a fun game that is. Seriously though, its addicting as all getout.**

**I, have missed this story a lot. My request list I did over on DeviantArt has led me to be away from this for some time, and I'm sorry for anyone that I've angered with the wait. If it makes you feel better, I angered myself with the damn wait too. The next chapter is going to be a pretty big chapter, but this one is important as well, and has some happiness in it (for those of you who I am depressing... I'm sorry, I really am).**

**Anyway - sorry its so long overdue. I hope you enjoyyy!**

* * *

Having had quite the emotional afternoon, Derek and Angie had both fallen asleep curled up with each other. The first to wake from the nap, Derek's eyes slowly blinked open, burning from the aftermath of crying. He rubbed them a few times before he lifted his head up, looking over Angie at the clock. 

9:36 p.m.

Laying his head back down for a moment, Derek ran through the events of the day in his mind before he decided that he didn't want to think about it at the moment, lest he fall right back into his depression. Instead, he gently slipped out of Angie's grasps, putting on his glasses as he covered her up.

He half-staggered out into the kitchen, picking up the cordless phone as he sat down at the kitchen table. Breathing a sad sigh, he hit the 'talk' button, dialing the first of three people he had to call.

"_Hello?_"

"Hey, Tyler – it's me."

"_Hey, Derek – how did everything go?_"

Derek sighed.

"There's a ninety percent chance she's going to lose it – the doctor said she lost a lot of blood."

There was a short pause as Tyler took in the news.

"_Derek, I am so sorry man..._ _Is Angie doing alright?_"

"Not really. She's taking it pretty hard – cried herself to sleep this afternoon, but I guess that's to be expected."

"_Yeah, of course... that's, an unbelievably hard thing to hear. Did she say anything about future pregnancies?"_

"What she said made a lot of sense actually. She said that in the past, a lot of pregnancies would self-abort before the woman even knew for sure she was pregnant – now that we can tell so early, she said that it gets hopes up way before the pregnancy is even certain."

"_That does make a lot of sense, man. I guess that if her body is pushing to self-abort, then it's because there may be complications later, or something. The body knows best I guess... but it still sucks."_

"Yeah, it really does suck – though if it has to happen, I'm just glad Angie's okay. Upset, but okay."

"_Me too. Listen man, I'll pass the news along to Leslie, and we'll both keep you two in our thoughts and prayers of course. Just, call us if you need anything, or if anything changes, alright?"_

"Okay man, thanks a lot."

"_Anytime Derek – see you later."_

"Bye."

He hung up the phone just to pick it up twice in a row, repeating the same painful conversation with both Greg and Sidney Kasal. After securing Angie a week off for her bed rest, he walked back into the bedroom to see her still sound asleep. Thinking for a moment, he turned back around and picked up the phone again, dialing the number to Angie's favorite Chinese restaurant, ordering some food he hoped would cheer her up.

----------

Though he knew she was ready for it, Tyler still wanted to surprise Leslie with the proposal.

Once a month, the pair got all dressed up and went out for a night on the town, something they affectionately called their "Date Night". Since getting all dressed up and having a fancy night out was nothing out of the ordinary for her, Tyler knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to surprise her with a proposal – and that way, there was less chance of him screwing up some sort of complicated plan.

To keep an element of surprise, he and Leslie always got ready in separate bathrooms as well. Now ten minutes to six, Tyler was seated on the edge of their bed, waiting for Leslie to walk in, whom he knew would probably not be ready for another half hour at least.

He already had what he wanted to say burned into his brain, so now the only thing he could do was try to get rid of the jitters that plagued him. Standing up and slowly pacing back and forth, he realized that he was forgetting the most important part of this whole thing – the ring.

It was no big deal, he would just go over to the –

…the…

…you know, the uh…

Tyler panicked as his mind drew a blank – he had no idea where he put the ring. The most important part of the entire process, gone.

Holding his head with both hands, he paced quicker, trying desperately to remember the last time he had it, but he couldn't. He could think of no place that it could be.

Stopping to take a deep breath, Tyler relaxed – Leslie would most likely be awhile getting ready, and this meant that he had time to figure things out.

Just then, a very svelte Leslie stepped into the doorway, wearing a black knee length dress with giant red roses all over it, and a black shawl to match. A smile instantly formed on Tyler's face as she giggled uncontrollably – he was wearing black dress pants and a dark red dress shirt.

"Wow – you can tell we've been together for nearly six years by the fact that we match even when we get ready across the house…"

Tyler laughed at Leslie's comment, stepping towards her to give her a quick kiss and a hug as he tried desperately to remember where the ring was – he hadn't expected her to show up so soon.

"You ready to go?" she asked, pulling out of his grasps as she walked to her dresser and grabbed her purse.

"Uh… yeah, sure."

Slightly upset that it was going to have to wait for even longer, Tyler stuffed his wallet into his pocket and grabbed the keys to his car. He followed Leslie out of the house miserably, trying as best as he could to hide his disappointment.

----------

Derek was in the kitchen fixing a plate of General Tso's chicken for Angie, her favorite, as she still continued to sleep in their bedroom. He picked up the plate and the silverware in his left hand, grabbing a glass of milk in his right as he quietly paced back towards the bedroom, setting the food on the dresser when he walked in the door.

Derek navigated carefully through the dark room, kneeling down next to Angie's side of the bed. Her face was just inches from the edge, face still tear-stained from earlier. She looked positively worn out, and had fallen asleep with a troubled look on her face. He gently brushed a chunk of hair away from her face, grazing her cheek with the back of his hand. She didn't stir even a little, just breathing softly in and out through her barely parted lips.

Resting his chin on the mattress next to her face, Derek watched her for a few moments, before he whispered her name. Rubbing his thumb over her cheek, he watched her eyes flutter and then groggily open, eyelids looking as though they were tied to weights. The whites of her eyes were nearly red and Derek grew sad noticing that they seemingly had no life left in them.

"Hey…" was the only thing he could think of to say, tilting his head sympathetically to the right as he looked on at her miserable expression.

"Hi…" she whispered, placing a hand over his as it rested on her face.

He cracked a small smile. "Are you hungry?"

"No…" she said, rubbing her eyes with her free hand weakly.

"Are you sure?" he inquired. "I ordered you some Chinese food… I know you probably have no appetite, but you haven't eaten for nearly a day – would you like to try just a little bit?"

Angie thought for a moment, eyes locked with his as he continued to gently rub her cheek.

"Okay…" she said, sitting up slowly.

Angie only ate a small bit of food before she placed it on the nightstand, closing her eyes as her head rested against the headboard. Derek put his plate aside as well, grabbing onto her hand, which immediately began to squeeze his tightly.

"Would you, like to talk, honey?" he asked, watching her eyes open slowly to look at him.

"…Not really."

"Okay…" he replied, feeling suddenly very tired again. "Would you like to just go back to sleep?"

Angie nodded her head, placing her pillows back into a position which would allow her to sleep comfortably.

Collecting the plates from their bedroom, Derek began to walk towards the door.

"You're, going to stay with me… right?" she asked quietly, to which he turned around and smiled.

"Of course, Angie…" he reassured, watching as the look of uncertainty vanished from her face.

Minutes later he was back, crawling up next to her in bed as he took off his glasses and shut off the light. Though she didn't want to talk about it with him, he knew that she needed him by the way she held him, refusing to let go for the rest of the night.

----------

On the way back from dinner, Leslie chatted away happily while Tyler just glared out the windshield of the car. It was hard for him to remain involved in her conversation, or driving, for that matter, as he racked his brain, wondering where he could've possibly put the ring. Could it have been stolen? Maybe it was just in a really obvious place… unless Leslie had found it and taken it, or something.

"Tyler!"

Snapping out of his funk, Tyler looked over at Leslie, who looked a bit annoyed.

"What's up, Les?"

"You're being pulled over."

Tyler's expression changed to confusion as he looked in his rearview mirror, instantly becoming ticked off.

"Dammit…" he muttered, pulling over into the parking lot to an elegant restaurant.

Huffing, Tyler pulled out his license, grabbing his registration from the glove compartment as he cracked the window just a bit.

He turned his head to the left, noticing the officer who had pulled him over.

"Good evening, and nice to see you again, Doctor Chase."

Tyler's mouth dropped as he stared into the face of the officer whom he had thought was a stripper from Derek's bachelor party. Every awful word he knew shouted in his brain as he realized that this was probably going to screw him in more ways than one.

"License, registration, and proof of insurance, please?" she asked.

Tyler could feel Leslie boring holes into the back of his head as he handed over his information.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?" she asked with a playful smirk on her face. "Or, should I do a little dance for you?"

Tyler stared blankly at her as he mentally smacked his forehead – this was so, so awkward.

"No officer, I don't actually. And I'll pass on the dance."

He shot a glance Leslie's way, confirming his suspicions regarding the look she was giving him.

"I pulled you over because you were going 70 in a 55."

Sighing, he waited as she walked back to the car with his information.

"What was…" Leslie started, immediately getting cut off.

"Just, a long, complicated story. I'll explain it to you after this gets straightened out."

Leslie crossed her legs and shortly after her arms, staring out the window.

Suddenly, there was a knock at Tyler's window. He rolled it down just a bit more, looking at the officer.

"I only have your license and registration here – I need to see proof of insurance."

"Oh, sure, just a moment…"

Rummaging through his glove compartment, Tyler remembered that when he had gotten the new insurance, he had placed it in the center console.

He moved his arm out of the way as he opened up the console, lifting up the piece of paper…

…which lied directly on top of Leslie's engagement ring.

Tyler immediately perked up as he slammed the console shut, handing off the piece of paper to the officer with a giant smile on his face. She looked confused as she took it from him, eyeing him suspiciously as she walked back to her car.

He recalled everything now – after their fight, he had thrown it in the console, but had forgotten to take it out after he went back inside. He breathed a happy sigh of relief, still smiling as he sat back into his seat.

Minutes later, she was back with his information, handing it to him through his open window.

"Because you have a clean record, I'm going to write you up for driving five over instead of fifteen – believe me when I tell you that's a favor."

Tyler listened as she explained the details of the ticket.

"Okay, thank you!" he said, cheery as could be, which seemingly confused her more.

"Alright – drive safely. Have a good night."

"Thanks! You too!"

Both Leslie and the officer looked at Tyler with ridiculous looks on their faces, wondering what had gotten into him. He stayed put as he watched the officer pull away, smiling as he looked back at Leslie.

"What is the matter with you?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Get out of the car." he said with a smile on his face.

"What? Tyler…"

"Leslie, I'm not going to leave you here. Just, get out of the car."

Looking slightly upset, Leslie slowly opened the door, staring at him as she got out and closed the door behind her.

With her back turned to him, Tyler reached into the console and grabbed the ring, shoving it quickly into his pocket. He jumped out of the car and ran around to her side, stopping in front of him.

"Seriously – what is with you?" she asked.

"This will all make sense in just a minute – let me explain."

Tyler went on to explain the story about the cop, leaving Leslie to giggle hysterically. When he finished, he let her settle down for a little bit before taking her hands in his.

"When we had our fight and I walked out, I was putting on my seatbelt when I found your ring in my pocket. I was so mad at the time that I just threw it into the console and completely forgot about it, until I really needed it."

Leslie raised an eyebrow again. "What do you mean, needed it?"

"I wanted to surprise you by asking you to marry me during our date night dinner tonight…" he said, watching as her eyes shot wide open.

"Tyler…"

"But then I realized I'm a dumbass and I forgot where I put the damn thing, and I didn't want to ask you unless I had it…"

He pulled the small box out of his pocket, watching as her hands flew up over her face.

"And then I got pulled over, and when I opened my console…"

"…you started smiling like an idiot…" she finished from behind her hands, leaving Tyler to chuckle at her.

"Exactly!" he chirped, watching her eyes never remove themselves from the box.

"I'm sorry that this isn't so big and grand, well, at all really… we're, in a parking lot… but I just, can't wait another minute to do this."

Still standing with his body gently pressed against hers, he snapped open the ring box to let her see. Her eyes shot open even wider at the giant sparkling round diamond.

"Oh my GOD!" she screeched, leaving Tyler to wince just a little bit.

"Ow." he said, bringing a hand up to hold his ear.

"Sorry…" she said, a giant smile on her face as she grabbed onto the hand on his ear, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Leslie, I love you. I've always loved you, and I always will love you. You're it – my whole life, my future, the mother of my kids and the hottest wife I could've ever hoped for."

She began to giggle, tears welling in her eyes.

Gently, he lowered down to one knee, looking up at her with a huge grin.

"Marry me…" he said softly, watching as she began to giggle through her tears again.

"Yes."

And simple as that, Tyler stood up, slipping the rock onto her finger as she watched in awe. He kissed her, both of them smiling before she pulled back.

"It's fricken huge!" she said, holding out her hand to look at the flawless diamond which now graced her finger.

"I figured you deserved something amazing for putting up with me all these years…" he joked, leaving her to smile and hug him.

A kiss and hug later, they loaded back into the car, buckling their seatbelts as Leslie looked at her ring, and then out the window.

"I know that was like, the lamest way to propose ever – if you want, I can redo it." Tyler said, laughing as he pulled the car into gear.

"I think it was more special than you think it was…" she said, sending him a sly grin.

"What do you mean?"

She pointed out the window at the restaurant of which they were parked in front of.

Tyler smiled as he realized what she was talking about. He had proposed to her in front of the restaurant of which they shared their first date.

"It's funny how things work out sometimes, huh…" he said, leaving her to nod.

He shifted back into park, turning off the car as he got out and opened her door for her.

"While we're here, we might as well go celebrate with some dessert…"

Leslie smiled, placing her newly ringed hand into his, and walking into the restaurant with her fiancé.

----------

Feeding a small forkful of chocolate mousse cheesecake to Leslie, Tyler put the fork down and reached into his pocket, where his cell phone was ringing.

"Who is it?" she asked, swallowing her food.

"It's Derek, we gotta take this…" he said, to which she nodded.

"Hello?"

Leslie watched as Tyler looked at her and shook his head sadly, his expression grave. Tears pooled in her eyes as she listened to their conversation, only gathering that something not good had happened. In a few minutes he wished Derek well and hung up, turning back to his fiancée.

"Derek says there's a ninety percent chance that they're going to have to try again…"

"Oh, no…" she whispered, hand resting on the side of her face. "How's Angie?"

"Devastated, naturally. I guess she cried until she fell asleep this afternoon – she was still sleeping when he called."

"I feel so awful – those two don't deserve something like that…" she said, taking a sip of water.

"I agree with you… I just hope that it won't deter them from trying again, you know? That can be really emotionally scarring for women I hear…"

"Oh yeah…" Leslie agreed, nodding her head. "My sister had it happen to her, remember? She took it really hard… but on the other hand, I had a friend that it happened to as well, and she bounced back almost immediately. I guess it just depends on the person… But knowing Angie, I'm sure this isn't going to be easy."

"I guess we'll just have to be there for them as much as we can…" Tyler said, taking a bite of dessert.

----------

Two days passed, and Angie was still barely talking to Derek. She held onto him like he was her lifeline, almost experiencing separation anxiety whenever he left her side. He had gone to work every day since she had come home, returning from surgery to hear crying messages from her at home. It broke his heart to be unable to be with her, but each time he called her back he was able to comfort her as much as he could without actually being there. Having been present for some of the heartbreaking messages, Sidney had let Derek take a few half days to be with her, unable to find any other way to help them in their time of need.

Walking through the door six hours before he was supposed to, Derek walked straight back to the bedroom to find Angie crying again, wrapped up with his pillow. He immediately kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed with her, scooping her up in his arms. She latched onto him tightly, but still refused to let her feelings out.

"Angie… it's okay sweetheart, I'm here."

She said nothing, crying now calmed to a gentle sniffle here and there.

"Maybe it would make you feel better if you talked to me about this… if, you got your feelings out in the open…?"

"Please, don't make me?" she sniffled, burying her face back into his chest.

"Okay, honey… okay…" he reassured, rubbing her back gently. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to…"

The two sat in silence some more, before Angie cocked her head up to look at him.

"Could you get me a cup of apple juice with some water in it? And, maybe a few crackers?" she asked quietly, her usually perky voice now soft and worn out-sounding.

"Of course… I'll be back in a second, okay?"

"Okay."

Derek kissed Angie on her forehead and walked out of the room, fixing her the things she had asked for. Nearly ten minutes later he walked back into the room to find her passed out, literally looking as though she was physically and emotionally exhausted.

He looked sympathetically at her, placing her drink and crackers on her nightstand as he kissed her cheek and covered her with blankets.

Derek crawled into bed next to her, watching her chest move up and down while she breathed, settled comfortably on her back. Laying on his side, he rested his elbow on his pillow, holding his head up with his hand as he looked on at her. Though she looked miserable, she was still beautiful in his eyes.

Gently, he reached over and put a hand on her stomach, able to distinctly feel the small bump which they had to search for just a small time ago. Feeling his heart sink into his stomach, he leaned forward gently, positioning his face right next to her stomach.

He paused briefly before he spoke, voice barely a whisper.

"You know, Stiles's are famous for overcoming the odds… who would've thought that your dad would be responsible for helping save the world when your mom had to yell at him every day to be at work on time?"

He rubbed his hand lovingly back and forth over the bump before he spoke again.

"They say there's a chance… a chance we'll really get to meet you. It's not very big of a chance, but I have this feeling that you'll pull through… You're a Stiles after all – and we always seem to surprise people, I guess."

Derek smiled briefly.

"And, you're also part Thompson – and if you're anything like your mother, which I hope you will be, you'll be too stubborn to give up even the smallest fights… You'll see everything through till the end…"

He continued to rub her belly gently, stopping as he leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on the bump.

"I've known about you for just a few weeks now, and I already love you more than anything… I know this is stupid to be talking to someone who can't even understand me, but as my first act as your daddy, I'm ordering you to hang on in there…"

He smiled again before it faded back into a more serious expression. Kissing the bump once more, Derek laid down next to Angie, kissing the side of her head before he drifted off into a nap with her.

* * *

**Stiles's DO overcome the odds, but that's usually after they're, you know.. born, and stuff. I never thought that the geeky (hot) guy at the beginning of my Trauma Center game who went "Me?!" when he was told he would be operating would be hacking open as many people as he did. But I guess that's what we get when we judge, eh? Underdogs for the win!**

**I had a conversation with a friend of mine once about what would happen if we had kids. This kid's head is so big, it has its own gravitational pull (joke, but seriously its giant). It went something like this:**

**Me: I don't know what I'd do if we ever had kids - I mean, it's head would be so giant that there would be no way to physically get it out of me.  
Friend; That's funny, because I was thinking if it had your attitude, it would sit in there forever and refuse to come out.**

**I had to laugh thinking of that when I was writing the part about Thompson's being stubborn :D **

**All I have to say, is, it's about damn time, Tyler. Way to go :D When he said he couldn't wait another minute, apparently he meant it! **

**Ah well - sorry again for the wait, I'll try not to leave you all hanging for that long again. Though if you take a look at my DA journal, you'll see what I've got working on. (le sigh)**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. See you next chapter! **


	18. Bed Rest

**So I sat down to update Hostage, and every other sentence I wrote I had an idea for how to do this chapter... So, I said screw it for the moment and decided to just update this again. Because these updates are so close together, I probably won't be back here for a little while (sorry). I needs to stop procrastinating!**

**Anyway, this is a bit of a long chapter (Which I'm sure you're used to if you ever read anything I write), so I'll just see you at the end! Enjoy! **

* * *

Six days had passed since the sad news had fallen over Derek and Angie's lives. Though she was still pretty upset, Angie found herself growing quite restless, as she had been confined to bed for nearly the last week.

Flipping through the TV channels, Angie sat back in a huff, finding it odd that seemingly every channel had commercials on. Checking the clock, she noticed that it just struck two in the afternoon – hopefully now something worthwhile would be on.

Still scrolling through their endless list of channels, Angie stopped on Bravo, lighting up when she saw the beginning to Project Runway. Though it was a rerun, Angie had not seen it yet, and was glad to be occupied by something for at least the next hour.

As the episode wound to a close and three contestants were waiting to see which of them had been eliminated, the front door clicked open and shut quickly after. Angie barely paid attention to the footsteps slowly coming back towards the bedroom as she watched now two of the contestants wait to see which was going home.

"Oh, MAN! He was the good one!"

Angie whipped her head to the side to see Leslie peeking her head in the doorway. Also a fan of the show, she green-haired nurse's mouth was agape, before she turned to Angie and smiled tentatively. Waiting on Angie's cue, Leslie stood outside the bedroom until Angie gave her a small nod, moving over on the bed so that she may sit down.

"I don't want to intrude because I don't know how you're feeling – I just wanted to stop by and see if you wanted company for a little while…" Leslie said, gently sitting next to Angie on her bed.

"Of course – bed rest isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds like." Angie said softly, a faint smile on her lips. Leslie could see that the color was nearly drained out of her best friend's face, bright expression now somber and pale.

A silence loomed over the two for a brief moment.

"How are you feeling, Ang?" Leslie asked, a slight hesitation in her tone.

Angie said nothing at first, just staring off at the TV blankly.

"I'm okay."

Derek had warned her that Angie wasn't interested in conversation before she came over, but it was then that Leslie finally realized the extent of what he was referring to.

"…I don't want to prod Ang, but… do you, want to talk at all?"

"No, thanks though."

Angie's gaze was still averted towards the TV. Leslie racked her brain, trying to think of something that would snap her out of her funk. She sat back against the pillow, now watching an episode of "Top Chef" with her silent friend.

Several moments passed before Leslie had an idea that could get Angie to perk up.

"…So, can I count on you to be my maid of honor?" she asked, looking over at Angie who paused for a moment before her eyes snapped wide open. Angie's right hand shot over and grabbed Leslie's left, pulling the sparkling diamond in front of her face to get a better look.

"Oh Leslie… it's beautiful!" she said, eyes now reflecting the smallest bit of life and happiness. Her voice was still slightly deadpan, but the height of her pitch made Leslie smile, knowing that her best friend was genuinely happy for her.

"I figured with all that's happened it would be nice to hear some good news…"

Angie looked up at her with a small smile on her face.

"So, give me all the details!"

Leslie explained the story, getting a small giggle out of Angie as she told the story from Derek's bachelor party that neither woman had heard before. When she got to the end, Angie was smiling lightly, still staring at the rock on Leslie's finger.

"I'm so happy for you…" she said quietly, smile suddenly dropping right off her face.

Leslie's arms were around Angie as she launched into her previous state of depression once again, crying into her best friend's shoulder.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" she sobbed into Leslie, hearing her scoff.

"Angie, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about – even though you may not feel like it, you're taking this incredibly well."

The only response Angie gave to that was more soft sobs, breaking out of the hug to wipe her eyes.

"Listen to me sweetie… Happiness is still out there, I promise you – this is just a minor setback. You still have a husband who loves you more than life itself, friends who love you and care about you, and a wonderful family… we're all here to help you, even though you may not want it just yet."

Angie's shining eyes locked with Leslie's brown ones, which were stern, but full of love and understanding.

"I can't even think of what it's like to be going through what you're going through – but what I know is that you will get through it… it will hurt for awhile, but you are okay. Somewhere down the road when it's time for you to have a baby, God will bless you with one – and you and Derek will make the most wonderful parents in the world, that much I know."

Angie wiped her eyes dry, looking miserably up at Leslie.

"…You think so?"

Leslie smiled, nodding.

"Never been more sure of anything in my life – it'll happen for you, I promise."

Angie leaned forward, hugging Leslie.

"Do you want to talk now?" she asked again, slightly more hopeful this time.

Angie pondered for a moment as she looked over to the left, before turning back to Leslie.

"No… sorry."

Leslie smiled again. "Don't be. Let's watch some Top Chef."

----------

Three hours and a lot of Top Chef later, Leslie heard the front door open, signaling that Derek was home to take over. She turned to bid farewell to Angie, quickly noticing that she had passed out somewhere in the marathon. Smiling sympathetically, Leslie rose to her feet, creeping towards the bedroom door, which she opened to find Derek in the kitchen, flipping through a stack of mail. He placed the stack on the table and smiled broadly upon seeing her.

"She's all yours… sleeping, but all yours…" Leslie said, quietly pulling the door shut behind her.

"Aw, she's sleeping?" Derek said, cocking his head a little to the left as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, she passed out somewhere in our Top Chef marathon…" Leslie said, giggling slightly.

Derek chuckled as well, his left hand coming to rest on the back of his head.

"Alright, well… thanks for taking care of her till I got home…"

With a smile and a farewell, Leslie was gone, leaving Derek standing alone in the kitchen. He stood where he was for a brief moment before pacing quietly over to the bedroom. Swinging the door open as gently as possible, Derek smiled to himself as he saw Angie passed out on her back, face turned towards him. He admired the sight for a few moments, breaking away to change into some more comfortable clothes.

Minutes later he was in bed next to her, reading a book as he waited for her to wake up. And as he waited Angie stirred, far into dreamland.

_Angie and her husband sat in bed together watching TV as the sound of their crying infant rang through the baby monitor._

"_My turn!" Derek said, grinning as he leapt to his feet and ran out of the room._

"_No way, totally my turn!" Angie said, chasing after him. She ran towards the nursery, stopping when she saw Derek standing in the doorway._

"_What…?"_

_She cut herself off as Derek turned toward her smiling, taking her hand as they walked into the nursery together._

"_Apparently it was just a squawk or something..." he whispered. "Still fast asleep..."_

_Derek and Angie stood over their infant's crib, looking at the sleeping baby._

"_What, a little miracle..." Derek whispered, slipping an arm around his wife's shoulders. _

_The pair stood in silence for a short time, the only other sound in the room coming from the light rain hitting the windowpane._

_Pulling her closer to him, Derek began to walk towards the door with Angie._

"_Wait..." she said, gazing at him with a hopeful smile. "Can I just, stay in here for a few more minutes...?"_

_Derek nodded, kissing her forehead before leaving her and their child alone._

_Angie turned slowly, feeling her heart beat furiously in her chest. She walked over to the crib where the baby laid sleeping, reaching in and lifting it gently into her arms. Cradling it close to her, Angie walked with the infant over to the kitchen._

Derek watched as suddenly Angie twitched in her sleep, her forehead now furrowed. He turned concerned for a moment, watching as the expression faded.

_Now in the kitchen, Angie looked at the infant whom amazingly, was still asleep. Gently she placed the baby on the counter, careful not to put it too close to the edge. Turning on her heel, she paced over to the butcher's block next to the refrigerator, mannerisms almost like that of a zombie. _

_Something inside her mind screamed for her to stop, but her body disobeyed. To her horror, she watched as her right hand rose up and grabbed the black handle belonging to the Chef's knife, slowly sliding it from its wooden holder. A slight metallic ping was heard as the sharp edge scraped wood on the way out, the blade now gleaming against the light from down the hall. _

_Turning around again, Angie now faced the sleeping infant, knife still tightly gripped in her right hand. _

"No…"

Derek turned concerned as he looked at Angie again, hearing her say the word "No" at least two more times as she clutched onto the blankets. Curious as to what she was dreaming about, he contemplated waking her until she seemingly relaxed once more.

_Now in front of the baby, Angie willed herself to stop, to put and end to what her body was doing, but to no avail. Her left hand moved on top of her right, both now gripping the black handle firmly. Powerless to stop the events that were unfolding, Angie just watched as her arms raised the knife above her head, spinning the knife until the point was straight downward. _

_Glancing at her beautiful baby's face one last time, Angie rose onto her tiptoes, turning her head away as the knife quickly began to lower – until..._

"…AAAAGHHHH!"

Scared half to death, Derek threw the book up in the air, hearing it thud somewhere in the room a few seconds later. Angie was now sitting straight up bawling, hair framing her face now damp with sweat. Quickly Derek jumped towards her, pulling her into his chest where she latched onto him, crying again.

"Angie, what is going on?!" he asked gently, running his left hand through her long locks as the right stayed wrapped around her back.

His question was met with no verbal response, just more and more sobs.

Unsure of what to do exactly, Derek did the only thing he knew how to do – hold her until she settled down. Gently rocking, Derek felt the tension in Angie's body fade away as she grew more and more tired in his grasps. Under her own power she pushed away from him, sitting herself up as she dried her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that week.

Once calm, Angie grabbed his hand tightly, raising her head up to look at him.

"I killed our baby, Derek…"

Derek's eyes widened at the comment. It was the first thing related to the baby she had said to him in nearly a week, and it nearly broke his heart to hear it.

"No.. no, no, no, sweetheart…" he said, gazing at her miserably.

"No Derek, I mean, I killed our baby. In my dream, I took out a knife and right before I stabbed it, I woke up screaming…" she explained, holding her head in her hands.

Speechless yet again, Derek slid his free arm around her back, pulling her close to him. She resisted, moving her body to face him directly.

"Do you, hate me?" she asked, watching as his expression turned sad again.

"Angie…"

"I, killed our child, Derek… it barely even lasted two months and I couldn't keep it alive… maybe… maybe I don't deserve to be a mother…"

Derek went to reach for her again, but Angie placed a hand against his chest, stopping him.

"Derek, I don't want to be held right now. I really just, need to talk."

Still holding her hand, Derek moved to sit cross-legged directly in front of her.

"I just can't help but feel that it's my fault – like, if I had done something different… maybe it was the stress of not having told you about it…" she started, looking down at their clasped hands.

"I just, wanted it so bad, Derek… I was so excited…"

"I know you were… we both were once we got used to the idea, you know?"

Angie nodded.

"I think, honey… that if this baby was meant to be, it would've stayed with us. Now that we both know it's something that we truly want, we can just keep trying…"

"You want to keep trying?" she asked, watching as he sat up straight.

"You don't?"

Angie paused for a moment, biting her lip.

"I do, I'm just… so scared, Derek…"

Derek smiled sympathetically, squeezing her hands tightly.

"I know you are…"

"I just, don't know what I'd do if this happened again…"

"…I'd be here for you…"

"I know you would, I just – "

"It's hard, I know, Angie… it'll take some time to get over… but once you feel like you're ready, we can try again. And one day in the future it'll happen again, and it'll stick – and we'll have a beautiful new baby at the end of it who we'll love more than anything. I love you Angie, and I know it's scary… but I promise – it will happen for us one day."

For the first time in a week, Derek saw a faint sparkle in Angie's eyes, mirroring that of the one that made him fall in love with her. She smiled softly, giggling as she sniffled.

"Are you sure it's okay if we wait a little before trying again? I mean, so I can have some time?"

"Absolutely. I'll be here no matter what, okay?"

Now smiling, Angie rose onto her knees, moving forward until she climbed into Derek's lap, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Head rested on his shoulder she sighed contently, turning his face toward her as she kissed his lips gently.

"Tell me something…" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Tell me what I did to deserve you…"

Derek smiled, kissing her forehead.

"I ask myself the same thing about you every day…"

Angie kissed him again, a hand rested lovingly on his cheek.

"I know I haven't exactly been the most fun this week… but thank you for loving me so much, and for being there for me…"

"How could I not?" he said. "I just, hate seeing you so miserable…"

Angie rolled out of his lap and pulled him down next to her by the collar of his shirt. Kissing him, she curled up next to him, cuddling as they finished out the Top Chef marathon.

"I'm scared for tomorrow… I wonder if I'll feel any different once everything has been taken care of…" she said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"I, don't know sweetie…" he said, kissing the side of her head. "Maybe, maybe not. Whatever happens though, you have me… okay?"

"Okay…"

"…I love you, Derek…" she said, squeezing onto him tightly.

"I love you too …"

----------

The next morning, the couple was awoken at 6:30 a.m. to the sound of a buzzing alarm clock. Derek promptly rolled over and slammed the snooze button with an open hand, groaning as he rolled over onto his back. While his hands rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, his head slowly turned to his left to look at Angie – who, to his surprise, was wide awake.

Already staring at him, Angie just half-smiled as she watched him fight to stay awake.

"..H-Hey…" he mumbled groggily, rolling towards her. "Were you, already awake?"

Angie nodded, reaching up to run a hand through his messy locks. "I've been up for the last three hours or so…"

Derek propped himself up on his elbow. "Why didn't you wake me up? I would've kept you company…"

"I, was just upset – I needed some time to kind of, be alone with my thoughts, I guess…"

"Did you have another bad dream?"

"No, I woke up to go to the bathroom a few hours ago and there was blood again… then after that I just, couldn't sleep…"

Derek's heart sank at the words, his expression mirroring hers. With no words left to say he just cuddled up next to her, playing with her hair like he always did to calm them both. This time he was surprised to see Angie sit up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"We need to get going – help me to the shower?"

----------

Still weak on her feet, Angie found herself being scooped up after several unsuccessful attempts to walk out of their apartment without wobbling. Shortly after she climbed into the car, buckling her seatbelt as Derek did the same. With a slight hesitation and a small sigh, Derek started the car and backed out of the parking space, driving off and towards Hope Hospital.

Wheeling Angie in through the automatic doors, Derek walked over to the registration area where he checked her in, sitting in the waiting room shortly after.

All alone except for an elderly woman seated all the way across the room from them, Derek and Angie just held hands, seated against the back wall of the room. His head resting back against the wall, Derek felt weight on his shoulder and hair brush up against his cheek, smelling the scent of Angie's shampoo. He leaned his head forward slightly until his face was closer to hers.

"Angie?"

"Hmm?"

"Are… are you, okay?"

She lifted her head up and cocked it to look at him, expression stone. All she gave in response was a less than reassuring nod.

"You can talk to me, its okay…"

She paused for a moment, biting her lip before she rested her head back on his shoulder again.

"I'm just, sad…"

A silence loomed as Derek took in her words, head returning to his previous spot gently rested against hers.

"I know… I am too… but, we'll try again, okay?"

Angie said nothing in return, gripping his hand tightly instead.

A door across from the pair swung open and a nurse in deep violet stepped out, her head turned down to read her clipboard.

"Angela Stiles?"

Angie sat up and released the brakes on the wheelchair she was seated in, glancing over at Derek who just gave her a reassuring nod. He rose to his feet and pushed her toward where the now smiling nurse was waiting, her foot holding open the door for the two of them. Under the nurse's instructions, the three hung an immediate left into an unoccupied examination room.

Angie shivered as the cold, sterile air swept over her body, all but tuning out the nurse as she gave instructions. Angie snapped out of her daydream when she heard the door click shut, leaving her to turn back to Derek for an answer.

"You weren't listening, were you?" he asked, smiling softly as he helped her up onto the table. Watching her shake her head, he gently explained that she was supposed to take off everything except undergarments for now, put on the gown and special socks, and remove any jewelry.

Successfully changing into the gown and slipping the socks on, Angie paused for a moment, looking at her rings, her right hand gripping the necklace Derek had given her, which hung around her neck.

"I have to take off all my jewelry, too?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, they do that to protect patients' belongings while they're under anesthesia – you never know what people will do these days…"

Angie removed her necklace first, carefully placing it into Derek's outstretched hand as not to tangle the chain. She hesitated for a moment, eventually pulling off her engagement ring and shortly thereafter, her wedding band, glancing at it one last time before she handed it off to her husband.

"Wow that feels weird… I haven't taken those off once since we've been married… you know that?"

Carefully, Derek slid her rings and necklace into his pocket, pulling his hand back out quickly to look at it.

"Come to think of it, me either…!" he replied, spreading his fingers and pulling at the ring until it slid off.

"You're right, it does feel weird… and, I've got a pretty cool tan line from it too!"

Angie giggled as she looked down at her slender finger, a faint tan line present from where her rings had previously occupied space.

Derek slipped his ring back onto his finger and smiled, taking her hand as he looked at her bare finger. She continued to giggle sporadically – he had this way of getting her mind off of things, but that feeling came to a screeching halt as Doctor Buchanan walked into the room.

"Hello Angie, Derek…" she said.

Immediately Angie could tell that while she possessed a smile, her voice was lacking its usual optimistic attitude.

"First things first – tell me about anything that happened while you were on bed rest…" she said, taking a seat on a small stool as she readied her pen to write on Angie's chart.

"Um, I was pretty much a basket case the whole time…" Angie started, looking over at Derek with a smirk. "Nothing out of the ordinary though, except there was more bleeding."

"How bad was it?"

"Not nearly like it was the first time – a very small amount…"

Abigail nodded, scribbling in the chart before she stood up and washed her hands, snapping on a pair of gloves shortly after. A knock was heard at the door and a different nurse walked in, identifying herself as an assistant of the doctor's.

"Okay Angie, go ahead and lie back…"

Pulling a blanket over Angie's bottom half, the doctor rolled up her hospital gown to expose her stomach. In the way of the two women at work, Derek walked around the back of the examination table and to the other side, sitting on a stool that was next to Angie's head. She looked over at him sadly as they prepared their equipment, grabbing onto his hand tightly.

"It'll be okay…" he whispered, leaning forward to gently kiss her on the forehead.

"Alright." Dr. Buchanan started, grabbing the couple's attention. "A lot of times, the procedure we're going to do isn't even necessary if the body has passed everything it needs to pass. We're going to do a pelvic exam first to check everything out, and then follow up with another ultrasound to see what, if anything, we need to remove. Do you have any questions?"

"So, if she ends up having to have the procedure, you're going to prep her after this, basically?"

"Yep – immediately after." Abigail said, forcing a sympathetic smile.

Seated on the stool, Derek situated his left arm around Angie's shoulder, so that her head rested comfortably in the crook of his elbow. His right hand clasped her right hand, her left hand resting comfortably on her chest.

As the doctor began the exam, Angie turned her head toward Derek and rested her forehead against his, her expression quite uncomfortable.

"Almost done…" the doctor said, as Angie gripped harder onto Derek's hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Derek noticed as the doctor's expression grew contemplative, biting her lip momentarily before she stood from her stool and removed her gloves. Without saying a word, she wheeled her stool over to the ultrasound machine, squirting the (freezing cold) jelly on Angie's stomach, eliciting a small gasp from the nurse.

She rolled the wand back and forth over Angie's belly, stopping and pressing a few times to get a better look. Angie and Derek's faces remained turned in towards each other, neither of them wanting to look at the screen.

"Wow…" Abigail said, sliding on her glasses as she continued to look at the screen.

Derek positioned his face to rest his cheek against Angie's, now looking at the doctor. Angie turned her head as well, tears collecting in her eyes.

"Is, there something wrong doctor?" Derek asked quietly, his voice cracking slightly.

Abigail turned her attention towards the couple momentarily before turning her attention back to the screen.

"It looks as though we won't have to do the procedure." she said gently.

Trying her best not to, Angie succumbed to her tears, letting them fall down her face without so much as a sob. She stared up at Derek, who slowly bounced his gaze between the doctor and his wife.

"Shh, sweetie… it's okay…" he said, brushing her hair out of her face. "You don't have to have surgery today – we can just go home, alright?"

Angie nodded sadly, biting her lip as Derek's fingers continued to gently run through her hair. She pressed her forehead back against his, the two of them closing their eyes.

"Well Angie, there's good news and bad news to this…" Abigail said, still checking for signs of anything that needed removal.

"I know, I know… I don't have to get the procedure done…"

"Right, you don't have to get the procedure done, because there is nothing we need to remove…"

Derek wiped Angie's face dry, both of them still looking at each other.

"No procedure… I guess that's pretty good news…" Angie said.

"Yeah, that's the way to look at it… we can just, go home and relax…" Derek said, watching as Abigail did another swipe to check the area.

There was a small pause between the three before Derek spoke up.

"If you don't mind, Doctor, can you explain the situation… as in, why there's nothing left to remove?" he asked, face now inches apart from Angie's, looking in her sad, green eyes. He continued touching her face and hair gently, never breaking his stare with her.

"Of course, Derek…" Abigail said, reaching over towards the machine.

There was a small click as she turned the black knob on the front of the machine, but silence still loomed through the room. A few seconds later, Derek spoke up again, this time a bit more hesitant.

"W-What was that button for?" he asked, turning his head just enough so he could see her.

"That's the volume button." she said, a small smirk creeping over her mouth.

"Oh, okay…" Derek said, looking back at Angie again, who was still in her own little devastated world.

Just then, it clicked what she said.

"Wait, why would you need a –"

His question was cut off as a broad smile appeared on Abigail's face, at the same time a very fast, rhythmic beat billowed out of the machine.

Derek sat dumbfounded for a moment, his eyes locked with Angie's as both of their mouths dropped open just a bit. Slowly, they both turned their heads until they were facing the doctor, looking at her for some sort of answer.

"We didn't need to do a procedure today, because what you're hearing, is your baby's heartbeat."

* * *

**Okay, okay, okay. Before we all start reacting to this, you get to pay attention to a story. Remember when I said that this section of the story was based on a true story? Well, I know someone that this happened to! Basically she was bleeding very badly in her 8th week of pregnancy, and the doctor told her flatout "Bed rest for a week, and everything should pass naturally, the baby isn't going to make it." So, she went home and did whatever and when she came back to the doctor, the baby was still alive and kicking.**

**See, cause the woman this happened to was my mother, and the baby, was me. :D How's that for a bit of history, eh? Look how close everyone came to not having a TCGeek!**

**So, anyway. Once again, I hope this restores everyone's faith in humanity just a little bit... seems like I keep unleashing depression on the world. (shrug) Sorry!**

**See you next time! **


	19. News

**(crickets chirp)**

**Is, anyone still here? I'm back!**

**(more crickets)**

**K whatev. :D **

**I won't lie - this is a bit of a filler chapter. I've still got really bad writer's block. This chapter isn't really all that important or great, so if you review don't go telling me it sucked cause I already know, k:D**

**Hostage is coming up next - stay tuned! (For those of you who are even paying attention to either of these)**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Derek sat dumbfounded for a moment, his eyes locked with Angie's as both of their mouths dropped open. Slowly, they both turned their heads until they were facing the doctor, looking at her for some sort of answer.

"We didn't need to do a procedure today, because what you're hearing, is your baby's heartbeat."

The smile on Abigail's face was a mile wide as she looked at a positively shocked Derek and Angie, who just kept trading stares with her and each other.

"Wait…" Derek said, trying to suppress his smile as Angie's hand came to rest over her mouth and nose, eyes welling up with tears. "You mean… it's… we're…?"

"Yes Derek – your baby is still alive…" she said with a small giggle, watching Derek try to stammer out something to say.

"Oh my God…" Angie whispered behind her hand just as her husband scooped her up in a giant hug.

"I'm going to give you two just a moment, and then I'll be back in to discuss things with you." the doctor said, removing herself and her assistant from the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Derek pulled back from his hug with Angie and grinned broadly, unable to stop his frequent happy chuckles.

"Angie…" he whispered with a smile, running a hand through her hair. "It's okay – everything's okay…!"

Angie just giggled back at him, tears streaming down her face as she switched her gaze between him and the monitor, the picture of their baby frozen on the screen.

"Oh my God…!" she whispered again with a giggle, wiping her face.

Derek moved his gaze from the screen back to her. "You don't have anything else to say besides "Oh my God?"" he asked with a laugh, kissing her on the cheek.

Angie's movements were slightly delayed, her mouth still wide open in apparent shock. She reached forward and wrapped her arms around Derek once more, before pulling back and letting another "oh my God" loose, to which he just laughed.

In silence for a few moments, Angie finally snapped out of her daze and looked at her husband, who was still beaming.

"I just… I can't believe…" she started out with a stammer, giggling at her loss for words.

"I don't know what changed its mind, but this is a miracle…" she finally said gently, eyes still shimmering with tears.

Derek leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on her lips, holding her face. He thought back to when he had talked to the baby the night she was asleep and smiled outwardly – his first act as a daddy was successful.

But remembering this, he stayed quiet – it would be their little secret.

"I don't know either Ang – I'm just, so happy…" he said, pulling their clasped hands into his chest and kissing the tops of both of hers.

Finally, after a tumultuous start – things were finally going right.

----------

(A week later)

"It's been almost a week – when are Derek and Angie coming back?" Tyler whined to Sidney across the lunch table.

"You should know – isn't he your best friend?" Sidney taunted, leaving Tyler to scoff and throw his hands up in the air.

"Yeah, that's what I thought until that stupid jerk stopped answering his phone – I never even got to tell him our news!" he exclaimed, looking over at Leslie who just smiled.

"I told you Ty – I already saw Angie. If she knows, then Derek knows. Sorry to spoil it for you…"

The response to this was just another scoff.

Silence graced Caduceus's break room once more, allowing all to enjoy their lunch in peace and quiet.

…until…

"I just don't get it! I know they're going through a rough time – but my Battleship set is collecting dust, Leslie… dust!"

Leslie just placed a hand on her fiance's back and rubbed gently, attention still buried in her magazine. "I swear you two are like a couple of 7 year olds…" she muttered, giggling when Tyler scoffed again.

"So you two…" Dr. Clarks started, swallowing a bite of cottage cheese. "When's the big day?"

This was enough to grab Leslie's attention and pull it away from her trashy celebrity gossip with a broad smile and excitement in her eyes. Tyler just rolled his eyes, knowing that Dr. Clarks had just started a very bad thing.

"Well, actually…" she started, beginning to look a little more upset. "We had a date in mind, but we need to talk to our best man and maid of honor about it…"

Sidney looked up from his tuna sandwich slightly confused. "Derek and Angie? Why would you have to clear your wedding date with the two of them?"

"Oh, just cause its a couple months from now, and we don't know how things with the baby are going to work out…" Tyler said, ingesting a spoonful of chocolate pudding.

Everyone at the table froze at the comment – including Leslie, who just looked over at her intended like he was the biggest idiot on this planet., shortly after covering her face with her hand.

"Um… what?" Sidney asked Tyler, who racked his brain as quickly as possible to come up with something. His mouth still full he paused until Leslie smacked him so hard in the back of his head that he spewed chocolate pudding all over the table of which they were all sitting.

Victor, Sidney, and Dr. Clarks all jumped up, the latter doctor the only one who had gotten a mild covering of the chocolate dessert.

"Eew…" Dr. Clarks said softly, reaching for a napkin and trying his best to wipe off the chocolate, only smearing it in the process. With a sigh he just hung his arms and stared at the stain, giving up on it when he remembered what Tyler had said.

"Angie's… pregnant?" Dr. Clarks asked in surprise.

"Uh, Leslie… help?" Tyler said, wiping the remnants of pudding off of his face.

"Oh no… ha, no way. You got yourself into this, you get yourself out!" Leslie said, returning to her magazine.

Tyler just rubbed the back of his head and grinned like an idiot, stammering out several lies before he just dropped the act.

"Okay, I wasn't supposed to tell you that…" he said with a sigh.

"You think?" Victor retaliated with a smirk, his arms crossed. "Oh man, I can't wait to watch Angie beat on you when she figures out you told…"

"No… no, no, no…" Tyler said, both his and Leslie's expressions turning serious. "You can't tell them you know…"

"Oh face it Tyler, you're so busted…" Sidney said with a smirk, turning to Dr. Clarks. "Man, she told me she was leaving work that one day to go see Greg at Hope, but I never thought it was something like this!"

"No you guys, you don't understand…" Leslie chimed in, grabbing the men's attention. She sighed and motioned for them to sit down, which they all did, staring at her expectantly.

"We had to run up to Hope last week – Derek and Angie were there and it turns out that she was bleeding pretty badly… they told her she was probably going to miscarry."

"Oh wow…" Sidney said, his, Dr. Clarks, and Victor's taunts immediately ceasing.

"Yeah, I know Derek told me he was taking a week of personal time last time he was here, but I didn't think it was serious – he loves taking personal time just for the hell of it sometimes…" Dr. Clarks said with a slight smirk, the smile disappearing quickly.

"We haven't talked to them since – Angie was supposed to go in for a procedure to get everything… uh, taken care of." Tyler said.

"A D&C." Leslie finished, all of the doctors nodding.

"But we haven't talked to them since – we, didn't want to intrude. They're probably pretty devastated."

"I bet." Victor said.

The five sat in silence at their lunch table, trying to come up with something to say.

"Maybe we should, do something for them?" Tyler asked quietly, looking over at Leslie for approval who just shook her head.

"Nope – cause then we'd have to explain to them what a blabbermouth you are…" she joked with a giggle.

"Yeah, well I learned from the _best_…" Tyler said, leaning forward and enunciating the word quite clearly in Leslie's ear.

She turned up her head to look at him, eyes on fire. Dr. Clarks and Sidney stood up slowly as not to be noticed, trying to remove themselves from the room as quietly as possible. Victor just crossed his arms and smiled – things had been so boring now that Tyler and Leslie had made up… this was much needed.

And when Leslie called him a jerk and then literally chased him from the room, Victor wasn't far behind.

----------

"Bed rest for another week? Really?" Derek asked with a sympathetic sigh for his wife.

"It's okay Derek – at least it won't be miserable this time knowing things are okay…" Angie said with a smile, squeezing Derek's hand.

"Well, I do have some personal time – maybe I can just take a week off with you…" he mused, seeing Abigail smile.

"That's the spirit – that would probably do the three of you a lot of good. All you need to do right now is relax. If you didn't lose the baby after something like that, then it looks as though things are going to rebound – though, there is still a chance they may not…" she said, watching the smile disappear from the pair's faces.

"I understand…" Angie said, the smile trickling back slowly. "I just hope everything will be alright…"

"Now, this isn't the time to be stubborn though…" Abigail continued. "Yes, you got over a large roadblock in your pregnancy, but continued following of directions is critical to prevent any further complications. I know it's going to be hard for you Angie, but just remember that the more things you do that you're not supposed to, the less chance your baby has."

Angie frowned at this.

"I'm sorry to be so harsh, but it's the honest truth." the doctor said with a slight smirk. Angie returned the smile.

"No, it's okay – thank you for putting it so… bluntly." she said.

"I'll make you an appointment to see me again next week. We'll see how things are going and then we'll take it from there – alright?"

"Okay – thank you so much." Derek said with a smile as Abigail walked from the room.

After she left, Derek and Angie could do nothing but smile, hug and kiss each other. While there was still a ways to go, things were turning around for them.

----------

"Try to look, like… worn out or something…"

Angie looked at Derek upon his weird comment, fixing her hair in the mirror of the passenger's seat of their car. Things had gone perfectly at the doctor the day before, and Angie was free to return to work with the gentle warning that she take it easy whenever possible.

"Derek, why would I try to look upset?" Angie asked, having the mirror in front of her flipped out of her view in response.

"I will bet you 10 bucks that Tyler already told everyone about the baby." he said with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you want to be able to get a reaction when you share the news?"

Derek and Angie's eyes did silent battle for a few moments in the parking garage to Caduceus, Derek eager to see if he knew his wife as well as he thought.

With a sigh, Angie flipped the mirror back open. "Help me look pathetic…"

----------

"They should be here any minute – you know Angie never lets them be late…" Leslie said, looking at her watch.

"Well, she isn't the one that's holding them together right now." Tyler replied, watching as Leslie agreed with him.

After sitting in the parking garage for fifteen minutes making themselves purposely late, Derek strolled into Caduceus with his arm around Angie's waist, the nurse looking positively exhausted. Sidney, Dr. Clarks, Leslie, Tyler, and Victor all sat in the break room and watched the pair walk in. At first no one said anything, their sad glances not going unnoticed by the duo.

"What are you looking at us like that for?" Derek asked, watching as the five exchanged glances with one another.

"Tyler told us what happened. Really sucks…" Victor said, trying to stifle a giggle as Tyler threw his hands up in the air and whined next to him.

"Duuude! What the hell?!" Tyler exclaimed, pushing the researcher so hard he nearly fell out of his chair.

Derek held his hand out to the side as he stared at his fellow coworkers, a smile gracing his lips as he felt Angie slap a 10 into his palm. He promptly put it in his pocket and walked forward, pulling out a chair for Angie and then himself.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to…" Dr. Clarks said gently. "We know you are having a difficult time."

"No, it's alright…" Angie said, grabbing onto Derek's hand on top of the table. "We're doing okay…"

"Really?" Sidney asked. "Because you guys can have some more time, if you need…"

Derek smiled. "No, really – we're okay… it was hard but we're alright."

"How are you rebounding from the procedure Ang?" Leslie asked, concern in her eyes for her best friend.

"Well, I didn't need to have it…" she replied with a fake sadness that only Derek could spot.

Their coworkers became silent, unsure of what to say next.

"Why not?" Dr. Clarks said very quietly, afraid to press too hard.

Angie and Derek exchanged a glance, the doctor speaking up.

"They couldn't do the procedure because there was nothing they had to remove." he said, clearing his throat and reaching into his pocket.

"…unless they wanted to take out our baby…" he continued with a giant grin, tossing an ultrasound photo onto the table.

Leslie and Tyler looked at each other, the photo, and then their best friends before the green-haired nurse nearly exploded out of her seat with a deafening scream, grabbing instantly for the picture as Derek and Angie just watched laughing.

"Leslieeee…." Tyler whined, sticking his finger in the ear closest to her. "Oww…."

"Oh my GOD!" she said, a hand flying up over her mouth as she sat down and showed the picture to Tyler, her eyes watering with happiness. Victor smirked at the pair before leaving the room, Dr. Clarks patted Derek on the shoulder and congratulated them both, and Sidney just looked on and smiled, taking the photo from Leslie when she was done.

After the initial shock of the moment, Leslie sat down and stared her best friends down.

"Why did you pretend to be all sad?" she asked.

"Well, we had a bet that Tyler already ruined our surprise…" Derek started, watching Tyler roll his eyes. "Looks like I was dead-on."

"Yeah, whatever… congratulations you guys…" Tyler said, dropping his offense in favor of a smile, mirroring the one that failed to leave Leslie's face.

"When are you due, Angie?" Sidney asked, giving the photo back to Derek.

"March 12th." she replied with a smile, feeling her husband slip an arm around her shoulders and pull her closer.

"We've got to celebrate!" Leslie said. "Dinner tonight?"

Derek and Angie looked at each other.

"Well, it would be nice to get out of the house for something other than work…" she said, Derek nodding along.

"Sure – sounds great!"

Tyler looked at Sidney and then at Dr. Clarks. "You guys want to come?"

"Nah, that's alright…" Sidney said, standing from his seat just as Dr. Hoffman walked in the door.

"Yeah, you guys go ahead and enjoy yourselves." Dr. Clarks said, throwing his trash away.

"What's this?" Dr. Hoffman asked, lifting the ultrasound photo off of the lunch table.

Angie beamed. "Our baby…!"

Instead of becoming excited like he usually would, Dr. Hoffman just smiled a weak smile and gave the photo back. "Congratulations you two – that's quite exciting news."

Everyone in the room shared a collective confused glance at Dr. Hoffman's reaction, wondering what was up.

None of them had expected to find out so soon, though.

"Derek?" the elder surgeon questioned with a serious tone.

Derek felt his heart drop into his stomach as he looked at his wife, and then at his boss.

"Yes Dr. Hoffman?"

Robert shoved his hands into the pockets of his lab coat.

"I need to see you in my office in fifteen minutes."

* * *

**Dun Dun DUUNNNN.**

**Uh ohes Derek. Yous in some trouble.**

**You'll see what happens --**

**...next time:D**

**(promise it won't be that long this time!) **


	20. Changes

**I'm back again!**

**So, if we remember from last chapter, Dr. Hoffman had something pretty serious to talk to Derek about... and here it is!**

**Next chapter of Hostage is coming along slowly but surely - be patient with me pleeease! :hides:**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Dr. Hoffman retreated from the break room, leaving everyone to ponder the words he had just said.

Derek just remained silent, his gaze fixed upon the place where the older surgeon had been standing. Millions of things raced through his mind, most prominently wondering if his job was in jeopardy.

Leslie, Tyler, Sidney, Dr. Clarks, and Victor all removed themselves from the room, leaving a very worried Derek alone with his wife.

"Derek…?" Angie asked quietly, playing with her hands nervously. "Derek, are you alright?"

The brunette raked a hand slowly through his hair, settling it on the back of neck as he turned around to face Angie, worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" he said with a nod, the look on his face failing to convince her.

"Derek." she said in a more serious tone, snapping his attention back to her.

"What Ang? I'm fine…" he snapped, watching her cross her arms at his attitude.

"I'm sorry…" he said, dropping his shoulders. "I'm just… worried."

"Me too…" she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "What do you think Hoffman wants to talk to you about?"

Derek thought about it momentarily, shakily sliding an arm around her shoulders. "For some reason, I have the feeling that I'm about to lose my job…"

Angie looked up at him, taking a step back. "No, that wouldn't happen – don't even think like that, okay?"

He nodded, biting his lip. "Well, I better go see what's up…"

Walking from the room, Angie grabbed him by the crook of his elbow and spun him around to face her, hugging him briefly.

"Good luck… I love you." she said, raising up onto her tiptoes and planting a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Love you too…" he muttered, turning around and walking from the room. Angie could only watch with great anxiety as he did so.

With a deep breath, Derek closed his eyes and rapped on the door to Dr. Hoffman's office gently.

xxxxxxxxxx

"_Come in."_

Hesitantly Derek turned the handle and opened the door, peeking his head around the door. His heart immediately dropped into his stomach at the sight of Dr. Hoffman seated behind his desk, hands folded in front of him. Usually the doctor was walking around or lounging back in his chair – not seated in such a serious position.

"Hello, Dr. Stiles…" he said. "Please, come on in and have a seat."

Innards shaking uncontrollably, Derek gingerly stepped into the room and walked forward, hesitantly taking a seat right in front of Dr. Hoffman's desk. Staring his boss in the face, Derek couldn't help but be reminded of the last time Hoffman had such a serious talk with him – the time at Hope his negligence had almost caused the death of one of his patients.

"Derek, there's something pretty serious at hand that you and I need to discuss. Eventually this will involve Angie, but right now I need to talk with you one on one."

Derek gulped hard. "A-Alright… what's going on?"

Dr. Hoffman's brow relaxed, giving Derek a reassuring smirk. "Well, first of all I'd just like to let you know that you're not in any form of trouble whatsoever."

With a smile and a chuckle, the younger surgeon allowed himself to relax slightly in his chair. "That's good to hear…" he muttered, earning a smile from Robert.

"I had a meeting with all the hospital chairs, like we do every quarter… I'm sure you remember that." Robert started again, earning a nod from Derek. "And you know that I particularly have a hard time with George Marshall, the head over at Trinity Hospital… he's such a stickler about everything, and this meeting was no different."

Derek stared on at Robert, wondering where he could possibly be going with this. If he wasn't in trouble, then what was so serious? And, why did it involve Angie?

"Do you remember how there were concerns from the board when you and Angie announced your engagement? How they all felt that the two of you working directly together would be a conflict of interest, and would go against the nationwide hospital rule regarding family members and their working arrangements?"

The brunette nodded. "Yeah, I remember – it took a lot of work, but we were finally able to convince them…" he said, trailing off. He finally understood where this was headed, and he didn't like it one bit.

Robert intertwined his fingers, hands still resting on his desk. "Yes, it was a fight – one at that time we had no choice but to win… but now…" he said, a twinge of regret in his voice.

"Now, Derek… we're under fire for it again."

Derek's forehead twitched. "Why? What is it now?"

Dr. Hoffman sighed, reaching a hand up to brush through his beard. "With the trauma of your current situation, it has forced the two of you to take a lot of time off. This is completely within your rights, as we understand the magnitude of what has happened to the two of you… the fact that you have taken time off isn't the problem."

"So, what's the problem then?"

"Derek, Marshall was taking a look over a lot of paperwork regarding the productivity at this particular branch. Because of the massive amount of money we receive, we're under a very close watchful eye all the time, and I know that you understand that. He raised the issue in the last meeting about how the other doctors and nurses here had to take on extra work to compensate for the time you were both gone, making it clear… shoving it down my throat, actually… that he was not happy with it at all."

Derek sat up in seat, anger evident on his face. "Well, it wouldn't be any different if say, I worked with Leslie and Angie with Tyler… if we're both gone it would force us to rely on them picking up our work the same we do for them when they've got problems."

"Exactly right. Believe me Derek, I'm not the one you have to convince…" Hoffman replied, holding up his hands in defense. "However, that's Marshall's exact point: no matter where you two are located, the two of you taking time off at the same time will always cause problems."

Derek became nearly livid as he listened to this continue, trying his best not to take it out on Dr. Hoffman, who didn't deserve it.

"You mean to tell me when I'm going through something as horrible as nearly losing my _child_, that I'm just supposed to leave my wife at home to deal with things by herself? I was here most of that week anyway – but don't these people understand how people react to tragic news like that? I mean, you've gotta be kidding me…" he explained, hands waving wildly as he tried to make his point.

"I know, Derek… I know… Believe me, I spent _hours_ at that meeting trying to change that idiot's mind…" Hoffman explained. "But, given the situation they're experiencing at his hospital, I was unable to sway him and most of the other board members…"

"What situation?" Derek bit, feeling as though he could care less about anything happening to those insensitive jerks.

Robert sighed again.

"Last week the head of surgery at Trinity was in a horrific car crash. Thankfully he's alright, but he's got quite a bit of rehabilitation in front of him. They suggested that in order to work out their theory that you and Angie would be better off separately, that you take his place until he's better, at which time they will reevaulate the situation."

"WHAT?!" Derek exclaimed, leaping to his feet, slamming his palms down on Robert's desk. "You've gotta be kidding – you're firing me?!"

"No, Derek!" Robert quickly said, trying to calm the surgeon. "Not at all, please… sit down."

Reluctantly, Derek slumped into his seat, angrily resting against the back of it as he tried his best to keep his composure.

"Derek, you are still an employee here at Caduceus. We will rely on you for consults and occasional surgeries – you'll be here more than you think. But in the meantime, your day-to-day priority will rest at Trinity… they really are counting on someone with your expertise."

"I don't care what they're depending on…" he grumbled. "I don't get a say in anything – just who the hell do these people think they are? Who are they to tell me where I can and can't work?"

Derek closed his eyes, exhaling sharply as he rested his head in his hands, trying to calm himself down.

"I just have enough stress on me as it is, Dr. Hoffman…" he started, looking up at Robert who just stared on at him sadly. "Now on top of worrying about the fact that my wife is involved in an extremely high-risk pregnancy, I have to deal with knowing I may not be able to stay at a job I love more than anything? There's got to be something I can do…"

Robert sighed. "I wish there was Derek – this is even over my head. If after the trial period they still decide they want the two of you split up, I'll personally jump in and help you fight it more than I already have – we'll take it all the way through the government if we have to."

"Well, what's going to happen to Tyler and Leslie? They're engaged now… are they coming after them too?" Derek asked.

"Not yet." Hoffman replied. "The focus is mainly on the two of you because you are married. But if this becomes something that they want to implement more, they'll endure the same fate – the committee actually knows nothing about their relationship thus far… though marriages are required to be made notice of."

"And Angie?"

"Angie will stay here at Caduceus. Because she is pregnant, every month she will be allowed to handle less and less nursing duties to protect her and your child. She'll act as a circulating nurse until that time, her position beginning to span off into administrative work as her due date grows ever closer."

A small chuckle escaped from the brunette. "Oh man, she's going to be so mad…" he muttered, hearing Robert share a laugh with him.

"Oh believe me, I'm quite scared to be the one to break the news to her…"

Derek exhaled again, shaking his head in disbelief. "So, when does this start?"

"That's the thing…" Robert replied. "We will call you occasionally or Angie can let you know about certain important dates and such – we will require you still be present for all staff meetings to keep up to date…"

"Sure… makes sense…" Derek said.

"But for now, Trinity really needs help and unfortunately as of the end of this meeting, you are their head of surgery. You are under direct orders to report there immediately after we're done here."

Anger flaring up again, Derek clenched his teeth to keep from becoming more upset. "And how long does it last?"

"They put his recovery time between seven and eight months…"

Derek sighed, closing his eyes. "Of course they did – that's right when Angie's due. Ugh…" he grumbled, taking off his glasses and rubbing his face. Shortly after he rose to his feet, extending a hand to Dr. Hoffman who took it and gave it a firm shake.

"Listen Derek, I think this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard – the second I can bring you back here I will… but until then, hang in there… alright?"

Derek nodded, hands now on his hips. "I will..." he said, turning to retreat from the room.

Hand on the handle, Derek turned around at the last second, facing the surgeon. "Would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Name it." Robert said, leaning back in his chair.

"I thought I was going to be around, but now that I'm not… I just need to make sure that you guys take good care of Angie. She's pretty stubborn when it comes to being told what to do, but I just want to make sure she takes it easy and stays safe… Just, watch out for her, would you please?" he pleaded, teeth still grinding together at his unimaginable anger.

Robert smiled. "Absolutely Derek – don't worry, she's in good hands."

With a nod, Derek pulled open the door and shut it behind him, taking a moment outside of Dr. Hoffman's office to collect himself.

The conversation running through his mind, he found that it was unable to rid himself of the anger he felt. And before he knew it, he was charging down the hallway toward the stairs, retreating to his office to collect his things to leave.

xxxxxxxxx

Angie was pacing outside of Tyler and Leslie's office, the pair leaning against a wall watching her.

"I mean, what do you think it could be? They're been up there for so long… Poor Derek… he's probably a wreck.." the blonde mused, biting her thumbnail in her nervousness.

"Ang, you've gotta relax…" Leslie said gently, swatting her best friend's hand away from her mouth to stop her from biting her nail. "I'm sure they'll be down soon and he'll be able to explain everything."

"Yeah Angie… they're not going to fire him." Tyler added, finally speaking up. "Because if they did I'd have nobody to mess around with, so I'd have to quit too…"

Leslie swatted him in the arm with a small giggle. "Not the time." she whispered, frowning as she watched Angie continue to pace.

And just at that moment, Angie stopped in her tracks, eyes widening as she watched Derek charge down the stairs, expression that of pure rage. The surgeon looked at the three standing in the hallway but did not stop, turning right as soon as he descended the stairs completely.

"…That, doesn't look good…" Tyler mumbled gently.

The three winced when they heard the door to Derek's office slam so loud it shook nearly the entire floor.

"Oh God, I think I'm gonna be sick…" Angie said, nervousness giving way to nauseousness as she realized something must be very wrong. Leslie placed a reassuring hand on Angie's back, rubbing it gently as the nurse stood there trying her best not to puke.

Tyler let out a sigh, sinking back against the wall. "Maybe you should go talk to him?" he said to Angie, watching as the blonde nodded.

"That's probably a good idea…" she started, trailing off when she noticed Derek was standing at the end of the hallway, staring at the three of them, his jaw set in a deadlock.

"Good luck without me, guys…" he snapped.

Angie, Tyler and Leslie's mouths dropped wide open at the statement, all thinking it over quickly to make sure they heard him right.

"What?!" Angie exclaimed. "Derek… what's going on?" she asked, walking towards him.

"I'm leaving. We'll talk when I get home tonight." he bit, pulling his car keys from his pocket.

"What time are you coming home?"

Derek just shook his head. "I'm not sure…" he said, storming off before she could get a word in edgewise.

And standing there in the wake of that, Angie became even more worried, wondering what had happened to cause this.

"They fired him?!" Tyler exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Pardon my language… but are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Oh my God…" Leslie said, so stunned that it was the only thing that could come out of her mouth. A hand covered her mouth and nose, unsure of what to do or say at the moment. She just looked at Angie, who was staring at the place Derek had been standing before he left.

Angie turned to Tyler and Leslie despondently. "What now?" she whispered, placing a hand on her forehead, tears collecting in her eyes.

Neither could give her an answer, and didn't have time anyway, as Dr. Hoffman appeared at the end of the hallway, hands clasped behind his back.

Angie felt her stomach twist into a million knots as she saw him, knowing before he even said anything that she was next.

"Angie – can I speak with you for a moment?"

* * *

**Man, these two can't avoid problems if they changed their names and moved to Bangladesh.**

**(I'd still find 'em... bwahahah)**

**Will Derek ever chill the hell out? How will his first day at Trinity go? Will Angie puke her guts out from nervousness? (No to the last one, on account of that's gross)**

**You'll see - next time! See you then! :D**


End file.
